'What are people going to do?': Some nearing retirement on LI worry about future Social Security benefits
At 65 years old, Eva Roberts is supposed to be entering her golden years. But the Riverhead woman said she knows retirement isn’t on the immediate horizon for her.
Born in 1959, she won’t qualify for full Social Security benefits until May 2026, two months before she turns 67. While uncertain about whether she will apply for benefits then, she knows she will need to continue transporting students as a driver for Riverhead Central School District to support herself.
Roberts, who also fills in as a school bus monitor, said she’s trying “to put together some kind of a survival plan” for her economic future and says her plan to keep working also is based on worries about potential injury or illness. She is part of a trend of older Americans who are staying in the workforce, which experts, including at Pew Research Center, said is partly because of changes to Social Security retirement benefits.
On Jan. 2, the full Social Security retirement age increased by two months for those born before 1960, Newsday recently reported. On top of that, those born after 1960 will need to be 67 to qualify for full benefits. The system gradually has shifted the original age for full retirement benefits from 65 to 67 — amendments made in 1983 to try to protect the program’s solvency.
But with the recent age adjustments and financial challenges that could impact the program’s future, Roberts and some other Long Islanders nearing retirement age are concerned about what their benefits will look like and how they and other generations will get by financially in old age.
“What are people going to do? It’s going to end up with people not being able to pay for your rent, which is very expensive, or your mortgage. There’s people at the lower end of finances, who haven’t been able to put their money into other funds,” said Roberts.
Huntington resident Leann Pisano, 58, said she has started to think about how many more years she’ll need to keep working. The Suffolk County woman said she went back to school in her 50s and graduated last year with a nursing degree in an effort to find more stable work.
The California native said she has been working since her early teens, with a job then scrubbing potatoes at a truck stop, and has been paying into the Social Security system all her life. She estimates she’ll need to work until she’s 72.
“I’m very worried — how am I going to survive?” Pisano said. “I can’t trust all the money I paid all these years to help me retire.”
The retirement benefit is a monthly check intended to replace some of the income older Americans lose when they stop working or reduce their working hours, according to the Social Security Administration. Payroll taxes finance the system. One of the requirements to qualify includes having worked and paid those taxes for 10 years or more.
But Social Security Administration officials have said that by 2033, the program is projected to cut 21% of people’s retirement benefits because of depleted funding.
The problem stems from increased life expectancy as well as declining fertility rates. The increased costs of the program have not kept up with taxable payroll, a trend that is expected to continue until 2040, according to a 2024 Social Security trustees report. It also said there are more beneficiaries from the baby boomer generation than there are people working.
Potential slashes to the program would apply to everyone across the board, both people receiving benefits and future recipients, according to Gerry Hafer, Social Security adviser at AMAC Foundation, a nonprofit based in Florida that advocates for mature Americans.
Even if the worst case scenario of reducing benefits by 21% is averted, there still are concerns that seniors will face more financial hurdles with the retirement age going up, some Long Islanders said in interviews.
Josh Hodges, chief customer officer at the Virginia-based National Council on Aging, believes increasing the full retirement age is a benefit cut that will disproportionately impact lower income, older adults. He said more than 40% of people across the country start their benefits at age 62, which means a smaller permanent benefit for the rest of their lives. People receive about 30% less in that case.
“People are relying more on low-income benefits. People are relying more on other opportunities, handouts, because there are no other options,” Hodges said. “…Ultimately, the conversation we should be having is about increasing revenue, not cutting benefits for people who have paid into the system for their entire lives.”
Clariona Griffith, a Hempstead Village trustee, said many older people in her community are having a hard time retiring and even when they do, they often need to supplement their income with a job.
“You already worked half your life and now to push the numbers even higher is not a benefit to anybody,” Griffith said of the age adjustments. “A lot of people are not happy. They have to work the additional time and even if they do retire, the bottom line is with the cost of living, inflation and everything going up, it is going to be very difficult and tough.”
At 65 years old, Eva Roberts is supposed to be entering her golden years. But the Riverhead woman said she knows retirement isn’t on the immediate horizon for her.
Born in 1959, she won’t qualify for full Social Security benefits until May 2026, two months before she turns 67. While uncertain about whether she will apply for benefits then, she knows she will need to continue transporting students as a driver for Riverhead Central School District to support herself.
Roberts, who also fills in as a school bus monitor, said she’s trying “to put together some kind of a survival plan” for her economic future and says her plan to keep working also is based on worries about potential injury or illness. She is part of a trend of older Americans who are staying in the workforce, which experts, including at Pew Research Center, said is partly because of changes to Social Security retirement benefits.
On Jan. 2, the full Social Security retirement age increased by two months for those born before 1960, Newsday recently reported. On top of that, those born after 1960 will need to be 67 to qualify for full benefits. The system gradually has shifted the original age for full retirement benefits from 65 to 67 — amendments made in 1983 to try to protect the program’s solvency.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Some Long Islanders are concerned about what their Social Security retirement benefits will look like and how they will get by financially because of recent age adjustments and financial challenges that could impact the program’s future.
- Experts say changes to the program are part of why older Americans continue to stay in the workforce.
- Social Security Administration officials have said that by 2033, the program is projected to cut 21% of people’s retirement benefits because of depleted funding.
But with the recent age adjustments and financial challenges that could impact the program’s future, Roberts and some other Long Islanders nearing retirement age are concerned about what their benefits will look like and how they and other generations will get by financially in old age.
“What are people going to do? It’s going to end up with people not being able to pay for your rent, which is very expensive, or your mortgage. There’s people at the lower end of finances, who haven’t been able to put their money into other funds,” said Roberts.
Huntington resident Leann Pisano, 58, said she has started to think about how many more years she’ll need to keep working. The Suffolk County woman said she went back to school in her 50s and graduated last year with a nursing degree in an effort to find more stable work.
The California native said she has been working since her early teens, with a job then scrubbing potatoes at a truck stop, and has been paying into the Social Security system all her life. She estimates she’ll need to work until she’s 72.
“I’m very worried — how am I going to survive?” Pisano said. “I can’t trust all the money I paid all these years to help me retire.”
The retirement benefit is a monthly check intended to replace some of the income older Americans lose when they stop working or reduce their working hours, according to the Social Security Administration. Payroll taxes finance the system. One of the requirements to qualify includes having worked and paid those taxes for 10 years or more.
But Social Security Administration officials have said that by 2033, the program is projected to cut 21% of people’s retirement benefits because of depleted funding.
The problem stems from increased life expectancy as well as declining fertility rates. The increased costs of the program have not kept up with taxable payroll, a trend that is expected to continue until 2040, according to a 2024 Social Security trustees report. It also said there are more beneficiaries from the baby boomer generation than there are people working.
Potential slashes to the program would apply to everyone across the board, both people receiving benefits and future recipients, according to Gerry Hafer, Social Security adviser at AMAC Foundation, a nonprofit based in Florida that advocates for mature Americans.
Even if the worst case scenario of reducing benefits by 21% is averted, there still are concerns that seniors will face more financial hurdles with the retirement age going up, some Long Islanders said in interviews.
Josh Hodges, chief customer officer at the Virginia-based National Council on Aging, believes increasing the full retirement age is a benefit cut that will disproportionately impact lower income, older adults. He said more than 40% of people across the country start their benefits at age 62, which means a smaller permanent benefit for the rest of their lives. People receive about 30% less in that case.
“People are relying more on low-income benefits. People are relying more on other opportunities, handouts, because there are no other options,” Hodges said. “…Ultimately, the conversation we should be having is about increasing revenue, not cutting benefits for people who have paid into the system for their entire lives.”
Clariona Griffith, a Hempstead Village trustee, said many older people in her community are having a hard time retiring and even when they do, they often need to supplement their income with a job.
“You already worked half your life and now to push the numbers even higher is not a benefit to anybody,” Griffith said of the age adjustments. “A lot of people are not happy. They have to work the additional time and even if they do retire, the bottom line is with the cost of living, inflation and everything going up, it is going to be very difficult and tough.”