Some Social Security Skills Strong

Social Security has been a part of retirement financing for almost 90 years. But how much do its future recipients know about the storied safety net? A recent study examines how deep knowledge of it is. 

The Nationwide Retirement Institute, it its 2021 Social Security Survey, found mixed results: respondent evinced knowledge and confidence about their comprehension in some areas, but less concerning in others. Harris Polls conducted the survey of 1,931 U.S. adults age 25 and older between April 19 and May 7.

Overall confidence among respondents concerning their knowledge of Social Security is high. Ninety percent said they are at least somewhat confident in that regard, and 43% are confident or very confident. Interestingly—and perhaps a sign of long-term vitality, at least of popular sentiment about the system—more Millennials have such confidence than Gen Xers and Boomers; in fact, a majority of Millennial respondents felt good about their knowledge base. 

Confidence about how knowledgeable respondents are about some basic core concepts is also strong. 

Millennials may be the demographic group most confident regarding how much they know overall, but researchers found that Baby Boomers were more sure of their knowledge about these matter than their younger counterparts. 

Actual Knowledge

When respondents were tested about what they actually knew, there were mixed results when presented with specific statements about aspects of Social Security. 

More than 50% answered correctly regarding whether:

• Social Security may offer benefits for your spouse or children;
• there is a cap to how much Social Security benefits you can get;
• Medicare Part B premiums are deducted from Social Security checks; 
• upon a spouse’s death, the surviving spouse inherits the higher Social Security benefit;
• benefits claimed early will go up automatically when reaching full retirement age; and
• married people are eligible to receive a portion of their spouse's Social Security benefit.

Less than one-third answered correctly regarding whether:

• somebody who makes $150,000 pays as much in Social Security taxes as millionaires; 
• Social Security is protected against inflation; and 
• workers pay Social Security taxes on all of their income.

A majority of respondents were not sure how much of their income Social Security would replace, nor how much their monthly benefits will be. 

Knowledge was even lower concerning the age at which one is eligible for full Social Security benefits. A mere 16% of those surveyed answered correctly. Knowledge of that age was higher with age; the percentage of members of demographic groups that responded “I don’t know” to that question increased with youth. Twenty-nine percent of Boomers said they did not know, 46% of Gen Xers, and a majority of Millennials.  

And while a majority were at least somewhat confident that they know how to maximize their Social Security benefits, only 6% answered 100% correctly regarding the factors that determine the maximum Social Security benefits one can receive. However, this sobering result is countered by the good news that while substantial percentages of each of the three demographic groups believe that Social Security should be their primary source of income during retirement, strong majorities have, or plan to have, additional sources of retirement income beyond Social Security.