Yet Another Reason Why Social Security Is So Important

For millions of Americans, Social Security is their sole source of retirement income. That was not the original intent of the program — it was envisioned to be one leg of a “three-legged stool” consisting of Social Security, private pensions, and savings and investment. However, that’s not the case for many retirees.

According to an article by Yahoo! Finance, nearly half of private-sector workers in the United States don’t have a retirement account. That’s typically because they don’t have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, like a 401(k). About 56 million workers say their employers do not offer a retirement savings plan.

Research shows that “workers are 15 times more likely to save for retirement when they have access to a workplace retirement plan, largely because automatic payroll deductions make investing consistent and require little ongoing effort.”

Until things change and saving for retirement is more accessible, older Americans will continue to need to rely on Social Security. We must work to protect this crucial program.

The Seniors Trust is committed to improving the well-being of older Americans. We are doing that financially by encouraging lawmakers to enact the Social Security Expansion Act. This landmark piece of legislation will give retirees an immediate increase of about $200 a month in benefits, a fair annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), increased minimum benefits, and ensure the long-term solvency of the Social Security program.