Poll: Majority not confident in future of Social Security

A majority of adults in the United States are not confident in the future of Social Security, according to a survey released Thursday by AARP.

The poll found 57 percent of people said they are not confident in the future of the entitlement program, which will mark its 80th anniversary on Friday. Forty-two percent, on the other hand, said they are confident in Social Security.

AARP said confidence in its future tends to increase with age. Nearly two-thirds of senior citizens, for example, are confident in the program, compared to 41 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds and 29 percent of 30 to 49-year-olds who hold the same view.

While many are concerned about the program’s future, 80 percent said they plan to rely on it in a substantial way or rely on it somewhat as a source of income. A third said they plan to rely on it the most during their retirement.

{mosads}More than two-thirds of people said they have some concern that they won’t have enough savings to last their lifetime and nearly that same amount of people said they are concerned Social Security won’t be enough to get by on.

In July, the program’s trustees released their annual report that said Social Security’s retirement and disability trust funds will be exhausted in 2034. After that date, Social Security would still be able to pay about 75 percent of scheduled benefits.

In New Hampshire this week, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suggested she would be open to the idea of raising Social Security taxes on six-figure earners, according to The Washington Post.

On the other end of the political spectrum, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a GOP presidential candidate, has come out in support of gradually raising the retirement age and cutting benefits for wealthier people in an effort to reform Social Security. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), who’s also running for president, has said it would be dishonest to cut benefits to people who have paid into the program.

Meanwhile, nearly 90 percent of people surveyed in the AARP poll said they agree completely or somewhat that it would be unfair to people who are retired or near at retirement age to make major changes to Social Security that would affect them.

Eighty-three percent said they agree completely or somewhat that everyone who pays into Social Security should receive it, no matter what other income they have.

GfK-Roper conducted the comprehensive survey of 1,200 adults age 18 or older. AARP said 717 of respondents were not retired and 483 were retired. The margin of error was 3.6 percentage points.