Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 1 April 2010 — Page 26

Social Security

Social Security, at 75,has become an integral part of Americans' retirement plans

By John Williams Social Security public affairs specialist Social Security has a rich history full of interesting facts. The program has been around almost 75 years, so there has been ample time to put together a list of interesting facts and figures. Here are just a few: * Social Security paid benefits to more than 56 million people last year. Fifty-six percent of adult Social Security beneficiaries are women. Here is some trivia about wages over the past few years: •????? In 2007, the average annual wage for all workers in the United States was about $40,000. •????? In 2008, it went up to about $41,000 and last year the average wage was around $42,000. Looking at the average wages, it’s plain to see how easy it is to earn your full Social Security credits each year. For example, in 2009 a wage earner needed to earn and pay taxes on $4,360 of wages to earn the full four credits of Social Security coverage for the year. When you retire, you’ll fully appreciate how useful Social Security can be. Last year, over 88 percent of

married couples and 86 percent of single people 65 or older received Social Security benefits. Social Security was the major source of income (providing at least 50 percent of total income) for over 53 percent of aged beneficiary couples and 73 percent of aged single beneficiaries. Social Security made up 90 percent or more of income for 21 percent of aged beneficiary couples and 44 percent of aged single beneficiaries. New benefits were approved for more than 5 million people in 2009. Of these new beneficiaries, 44 percent were retired workers and 17 percent were disabled workers. The remaining 39 percent were survivors or the spouses and children of retired or disabled workers. Then there’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a program that provides income to needy people 65 or older, or who are blind or disabled. Payments under SSI began in January 1974, with 3.2 million people receiving federally administered payments. As of December 2009, the number of recipients was over 7.5 million. Of this total, 4.3 million were between 18 and 64, another 2 million were 65 or older, while 1.2 million were under 18. To learn more, read

our online publication Fast Facts & Figures about Social Security, 2009 at www.socialsecurity.gov/policy/docs/cha rtbooks/fast_facts. Meanwhile, Michael J. Astrue, commissioner of Social Security, recently joined award-winning actress Patty Duke and the cast of her hit 1960s sitcom, The Patty Duke Show, to unveil Social Security’s newest online service : an application for Medicare benefits. This new online application, which takes less than 10 minutes to complete, is for people reaching the Medicare eligibility age of 65 who want to delay filing for Social Security retirement benefits. Currently about a half million Americans enroll in Medicare each year, without applying for monthly benefits. “Social Security’s online services are the best in all of government and exceed the top private sector companies in customer satisfaction,” Astrue said. “The new Medicare application is a welcome addition to our suite of online services and will make it easier than ever to sign up for Medicare. “I am thrilled that Patty Duke has once again volunteered to help us get the word out. The fact that this time her TV family has joined her makes this even

more special and I thank William Schallert, Eddie Applegate, and Paul O’Keefe for their service to America. “I also want to thank Dr. David Kessler, former FDA commissioner, who appeared with Patty as a befuddled family physician in some of our spots.” To apply online for Medicare, go to www.socialsecurity.gov and choose Retirement/Medicare under the header, “Select Below To Apply For.” You will be asked a brief series of questions. If you have a question or need additional information, there are convenient “more info” links. When you’re done, just select the “Sign Now” button to submit the application. There are no paper forms to sign, and usually no additional documents are required. If more information is needed, Social Security will contact you by phone or letter. For a variety of reasons, more and more Americans are choosing to delay receiving Social Security retirement benefits past the Medicare eligibility age of 65. Although the age to collect full retirement benefits used to be age 65, it is now age 66 for individuals just becoming eligible for retirement benefits and will eventually become age 67.

Benefits can be increased by up to 32 percent if someone delays receiving them until age 70. To learn more, see our When To Start Receiving Retirement Benefits fact sheet at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10147 .h tml. “We are continuing to look for ways to improve our existing online services and to add new services that make it easy for people to do business with Social Security,” said Astrue. “Later this year, we will make our online Retirement Estimator at www.socialsecurity.gov/ estimator available in Spanish, a first for the federal government. Providing the public with the best online services in the government and private sectors is one of our top priorities.” To see all of Social Security’s online services, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/ onlineservices. To view the new public service announcements featuring the cast of The Patty Duke Show, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/ medicareonly. Click here for a fact sheet and link to online services available at www.socialsecurity.gov