Yes, I will never need to live on my SS alone, no matter what. I have a pension that is roughly as safe as SS , retirement savings and home equity. SS is going to be “fun money” which will be more useful in my 60s than in my 70s ( and there’s no question of working until 70 because I am not yet 60 and have retired). I may never end up taking money out of the retirement accounts - I don’t think I will need it unless I want to take a very expensive vacation.
Exactly. It is the safest, least risky source of long-term income that I have available to me, especially given that I get no pleasure from making the most basic of investment decisions. I put those in the hands of professionals with the knowledge (and personal experience) that even they will fuck up now and then on anticipating what the markets will do. My non-SS money is already at risk, more than enough for me. I want one source of low-risk, long-term return in my portfolio, and that what SS represents to me.
All retirement planning requires guesswork and allowance for multiple scenarios, especially if you stop work at about 60. Then you may need 40+ years of income. You can’t definitely cover every scenario, but this is where you can’t make a single guess and ignore other scenarios.
My experience, now that I reach the age where previous generation is/has bit the big one - health is unpredictable. You could be fine, until you are not -once one thing goes wrong, it seems to be a cascade until the end arrives shortly, unless you are lucky. You could lose your marbles at any age. What does it do to finances if one partner has to be in a care home?
There’s no end of questions, nothing is definitive. Plan as best you can.
It’s not just that politicians (or most people) want elderly to step aside and make room and jobs for young people. Presumably, employers too would like to know that the people they rely on are less likely to suddenly disappear into the hosiptal just because they fell, or had a heart attack.