What Role Should Social Security Play in Your Retirement?
There are plenty of seniors who end up retiring on Social Security alone. But whether they're faring well is a different story.
Seniors on Social Security have lost an astounding 36% of their buying power since the year 2000, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League. And that's largely because Social Security's cost-of-living adjustments haven't managed to adequately keep pace with inflation.
But that aside, one thing you should know well ahead of retirement is that if you're an average earner, Social Security will only replace about 40% of the paycheck you're used to collecting. And that assumes that benefits aren't cut in the future, which, as of now, is a known possibility, due to the program's financial challenges.
Source Fool.com
