The Current Focus on Social Security: A Source of Considerable Angst - Investors Business Daily
Despite repeated promises that the Trump Administration’s current focus on Social Security operations does not include benefit cuts, an Investor Business Daily report by Adam Shell suggests “Social Security’s future is worrying everyone.” As Shell explains, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts to eliminate fraud and waste to improve the program’s financial picture involve records corrections and staffing issues rather than actual payment reductions, although concerns are real regarding daily service issues for beneficiaries.
According to the Shell article, the Social Security Administration will likely experience a 12% staffing reduction, which will impact customer services, especially extended telephone wait times. While the article explains that “fears of Social Security benefit cuts, especially for those already receiving checks, are overblown,” the author cites the potential for interruptions in the flow of benefit payments. Specifically, he notes that the potential for failures in the Agency’s outdated computer systems, coupled with the loss of institutional knowledge on these legacy systems, could result in lengthy recovery from processing problems should they occur.
The Shell article offers advice to future Social Security applicants, most notably the importance of filing applications timely…as much as four months ahead of the preferred month to receive the first benefit payment. In conjunction with this advice, he notes the importance of creating an online “my Social Security” account well before the initial application process. He also cites the importance of avoiding the impulse to claim benefits at age 62 because of rumors of insolvency, noting that the projected trust fund depletion is years away.