The Federal Reserve has held interest rates artificially low for decades. This causes all kinds of distortions and misallocations in the economy.
And it’s creating quite a problem for the Social Security Administration.
A lot of people have a vague sense that too much inflation might be a bad thing. But in a world where central banks and governments promote and implement policies intended to increase inflation by 2% annually, most people don’t seem to really understand just how much inflation erodes their purchasing power over time. After all, 2% doesn’t sound like a lot.
But you have to remember that this decrease in the value of your money compounds over time and it ultimately devastates savers and those on fixed incomes. Looking at Social Security benefits drives this reality home.
Last year, the Social Security and Medicare trustees warned that the programs are going broke. A year later — they’re still going broke.
Social Security will dip begin dipping into reserves in order to pay out benefits next year and those reserves will run dry in 2035, according to the annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report that was released Monday.
When reserves dry up, the system will no longer be able to pay full benefits.
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Are you depending on Social Security and Medicare for your retirement?
You might want to rethink that plan. These government retirement programs are going broke even faster than expected.
Do you dream of retirement? Sitting on a beach sipping cocktails? Leisurely afternoon rounds of golf? Spending hours playing with grandchildren?
Well, for a lot of Americans, that retirement dream may turn into a nightmare. Instead of reclining poolside, they may find themselves greeting customers at Walmart.
According to data recently released by Northwestern Mutual, one-third of Americans have less than $5,000 in retirement savings.
