You often hear retirement planning attorneys emphasizing how important it is to get started thinking about the future as early as possible, and too often this sound advice can go in one ear and out the other. There are those who are under the impression that Social Security will take care of their basic needs when they retire, and they also assume that Medicare will cover everything from long-term care to all of their prescription drug costs to one hundred percent of their medical expenses. They reason that this safety net will make it easy for them to have more than ample resources when they retire without having to do a lot of precise, long-term planning.
Let’s take a look at the facts to see if this is really true. The Social Security Administration says that 64% of people who are receiving Social Security benefits rely on it as their primary source of income. They go on to say that one in three recipients claim that Social Security makes up at least 90% of their overall retirement income. This is well and good, so how much is the average monthly Social Security payout that all these people are depending on almost exclusively? You may be surprised when you hear that the figure is $1072.
In addition, Social Security benefits did not rise in 2010 or 2011, and Medicare does not pay for everything. At the present time everyone with a pulse is well aware of the fact that the United States budget deficit is a source of great concern in Washington, and there are competing plans coming from both major political parties that apparently include Social Security and Medicare cuts. So when you look at the facts, Social Security is probably not going to be able to provide you with the retirement income that you need and the future of Medicare and Medicaid are quite uncertain. If you have not yet considered it seriously, now is the time to take the bull by the horns and arrange for a consultation with an experienced retirement planning attorney.
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