money Fears mount over future of Social Security, survey reveals
Yahoo Finance’s Sibile Marcellus joins Kristin Myers to discuss AARP's recent survey, which reveals younger Americans are growing more worried about the future of Social Security.
Video Transcript
KRISTIN MYERS: Well, I want to turn now to Social Security because a new poll from the AARP shows that more and more people are afraid for Social Security's future. So for more on this, we're joined now by Yahoo Finance Sibile Marcellus. Hey, Sibile.
SIBILE MARCELLUS: We're seeing that younger Americans, so those aged 30 to 49, in particular, are very concerned that Social Security will not be there for them when they retire. So there are two top are money running out of the funds and then the government not keeping its promises. What we're seeing according to this AARP survey is that 72% don't think Social Security checks will be enough to get by on.
On the flip side, other research has shown that younger working Americans do realize that. So they hope that they'll live longer, work longer, and find other sources of revenue by the time they retire so they're not just relying on Social Security. But as of now, about 53% of Americans do retirement-- do expect for Social Security to be their primary source of income. That's what they're using right now.
Now, Trump's executive order has worried a lot of people, because the deferment of payroll taxes could impact the funding of Social Security. And on top of that, with a pandemic, we've seen many people lose their jobs, which means that even less is being funded in terms of money going into Social Security for the payroll tax. People are not working. Then they're not paying that payroll tax. So that's a significant concern for younger Americans. But they're hoping that they'll find other sources of revenue by the time they will have to retire.
KRISTIN MYERS: Yeah, Sibile. And we've been talking about this a lot as coronavirus, according to the Penn Wharton budget model, could wipe out Social Security four years sooner than expected. So more concerns there. Thanks so much, Sibile.
