Fred Yager - Social Security

No one likes a know-it-all. Most of us realize theres no such thinghow could there be? The world is far too complicated for someone to understand everything there is to know. So when you come across a know-it-all, you smile to yourself as they ramble on because you know better.

You understand that the quest for knowledge is a never-ending one, and youre okay with that. You have no desire to know everything, just the next thing. You know what you dont know, youre confident enough to admit it, and youre motivated to do something about it.

At Idiots Guides, we, too, know what we dont know, and we make it our business to find out. We find really smart people who are experts in their fields and then we roll up our sleeves and get to work, asking lots of questions and thinking long and hard about how best to pass along their knowledge to you in the easiest, most-accessible way possible.

After all, thats our promiseto make whatever you want to learn As Easy as It Gets. That means giving you a well-organized design that seamlessly and effortlessly guides you from page to page, topic to topic. It means controlling the pace youre asked to absorb new informationnot too much at once but just what you need to know right now. It means giving you a clear progression from easy to more difficult. It means giving you more instructional steps wherever necessary to really explain the details. And it means giving you fewer words and more illustrations wherever its better to show rather than tell.

So here you are, at the start of something new. The next chapter in your quest. It can be an intimidating place to be, but youve been here before and so have we. Clear your mind and turn the page. By the end of this book, you wont be a know-it-all, but your world will be a little less complicated than it was before. And well be sure your journey is as easy as it gets.

Mike Sanders
Publisher, Idiots Guides

This book is dedicated to our wonderful family and devoted friends.

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Introduction

One of the most large-scale and popular benefits programs run by the U.S. government is Social Securityyet few people really understand just what it is or the nuts and bolts of how it works.

In short, Social Security is a benefits program the federal government provides to eligible individuals that pays monthly benefits to retirees, older workers who meet certain income or age requirements, the disabled and their dependents, and the family of retired or deceased workers.

The Social Security Act was signed into law on August 14, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The program has been modified over the years, but the goal has remained the same: to provide financial support and security to eligible Americans.

Social Security was never designed to be the sole source of income for retirees. However, today so many seniors dont receive pensions from their jobs and have little savings due to the economy or to lack of employment, Social Security has become a much bigger part of retirement income than it was intended to be. The reality today is that for a growing number of seniors, Social Security benefits actually represent as much as 90 percent or more of what they have to live on after they stop working.