If you missed my webinar presentation yesterday on the current chaos at the Social Security Administration, the video replay is here. The free event was sponsored by LiveAgeWell in Edgewater on Chicago’s north side, and the Chicagoland Villages Collaborative.
I framed the conversation with some discussion of Social Security’s critical importance as our only universal, guaranteed-income retirement program - and some history of ways the program has been attacked by the right over the years. (Spoiler alert: the false charges about waste and fraud charges aren’t new.) I also offered an update on the current financial health of the two trust funds that finance benefits, and fielded a few questions (see below).
Is DOGE sparking a rush to claim Social Security early?
DOGE-incited worries about Social Security’s stability may be pushing more people to claim benefits earlier than they had planned, according to Social Security Administration monthly reporting. The Wall Street Journal reports::
Pending Social Security claims for retirement, survivor and health insurance benefits totaled 580,887 in March, up from 500,527 a year earlier. While multiple factors likely contributed to the increase, agency officials said at a March 28 meeting that “fearmongering has driven people to claim benefits earlier.”
And Kerry Hannon at Yahoo! Finance reports on a broader set of possible reasons offered up by the SSA:
Peak 65 Baby Boom. SSA says that's driving the "vast majority" of new applications, and it refers to the record number of Americans turning 65 and retiring. It's the biggest retirement surge in history, and it started last year.
The Social Security Fairness Act. This new law increases benefits for some retired public service workers and provides back pay for others beginning in March.
Cyclical mailers for spouses and surviving spouses potentially entitled to a higher benefit. This applies when a spouse or surviving spouse applies for survivor benefits, or if they are already receiving benefits as a spouse and report the death of their spouse. If a higher benefit is available, the SSA will inform the individual via a mailing and adjust their payments to the larger amount.
During yesterday’s webinar, one attendee asked me: “If you were 67 and had been planning to delay claiming until 70, would you wait or go ahead and file now? Here’s how I responded:
Delinquent student loan clawbacks will garnish Social Security
The U.S. Department of Education plans to restart clawbacks on delinquent student loans in May. That will include withholding money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits. Wage garnishments will restart this summer.
Clawback initiatives had been on hold over the past few years.
In 2024, there were nine million outstanding student loans held by adults age 50 or higher, and 2.8 million of those were held by people age 62 and older, according to federal data. Data on default rates is spotty, but the federal Consumer Finance Protection Bureau estimated earlier this year that there are 452,000 borrowers ages 62 and older with defaulted loans who are likely receiving Social Security benefits.
Chris Farrell of MarketPlace has this story on the role of risk shifting in creating financial pressure on older adults.
PBS documentary: Aging in America
A new documentary on the public policy challenges the U.S. faces as the nation ages debuted this week on PBS. Paul Kleyman of Generations Beat Onlin offered this review of Aging in America:
Unlike many media glosses of issues in aging, this hourlong documentary, arriving just in time for Older Americans Month, smoothly—and at times touchingly—provides viewers with an thoughtful overview of many prime public policy challenges concerning the rapid aging of America.
Award-winning veteran documentary producers, Neil Steinberg and Mark Jonathan Harris (with three documentary Oscars), brought in Martin Sheen to narrate the program. Most essentially, the program is a fitting tribute to the late Robert N. Butler, MD, the first director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), and whose book Why Survive? Being Old in America, won a 1976 Pulitzer Prize. Interview clips of Butler, who coined the term “ageism,” highlight the film.
You can find the schedule for local air dates here.
What I’m reading
Aging in fear: How I.C.E. raids impact Latino seniors . . . For L.A. residents whose homes burned, aging complicates what comes next . . . Midlife eating habits can help you live longer and healthier . . . When it’s time for an aging driver to hit the brakes . . . When a dementia sufferer doesn’t recognize you anymore . . . The dangerous road to a “master file” linking government databases . . . If we really want to cut waste, reform Medicare Advantage . . . Congress and DOGE turned the Social Security Fairness Act from a win to a loss . . . Your memories of market performance can deceive you in dangerous ways . . . New science of aging can predict your future.