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Be careful what you wish for
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Posted on May 27 2012
Attention retirees and current government employees: Here’s a bit of speculation on Social Security as a possible answer. Some retirees believe, wrongly, that moving to Social Security will be a replacement for their NMI retirement income. Not so. There is no way that the CNMI Retirement Fund can make the necessary contributions to Social Security to make up for a lifetime of contributing for all those in the Retirement Fund. If it does happen, there would probably be some Social Security income, but probably in the hundreds per month, at a guess. One may search the Social Security website (http://www.socialsecurity.gov/) for many types of information.
I researched two questions: What is the average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker? The average monthly (not bimonthly) Social Security benefit for a retired worker was about $1,230 at the beginning of 2012. This amount changes monthly based upon the total amount of all benefits paid and the total number of people receiving benefits. This applies to an average income person who has worked their entire life and who has had Social Security contributions deducted from their salary their entire working life. Average means half the people get below this number. See http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/13/~/average-monthly-social-security-benefit-for-a-retired-worker.
What is the maximum monthly Social Security retirement benefit? The maximum benefit depends on the age a worker chooses to retire. For example, for a worker retiring at age 66 in 2012, the amount is $2,513 (monthly, not bimonthly). This figure is based on earnings at the maximum taxable amount for every year after age 21. This maximum for 2012 of taxable earnings is $110,100… and for previous years prorated to 2012 dollars. (http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/5/~/maximum-social-security-retirement-benefit)
It helps to actually put those numbers in perspective. Probably nobody will get the maximum, and most below the average. Be careful what you ask for.
[B]Angie Sills[/B] [I]Arizona, United States[/I]
