Many college students wonder about their financial futures and how they will make it through the first five to 10 years out of college. One thing most don’t think or know much about is social security and its benefits.
Social Security is defined as the “Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) federal program.” In other words, it is something that the older generation worries about a lot more than the younger generation.
Savannah Lee, a 22-year-old senior Health and Human Performance major at UTM, says she isn’t really sure what Social Security is or how it works. She just knows that it benefits people after they retire. Lee is not the only person her age who doesn’t know much about this topic.
Those who have jobs already know about taxes being taken out of their checks, and they get it back between the beginning to middle of every year. Younger people, such as high school or college age, might not consider the other money that is being taken out. With social security, the young adult might not get it back as soon, but he or she will eventually. In the United States, Social Security’s source is payroll tax, which is taken by the Internal Revenue Service, otherwise known as the IRS.
A major Social Security program is Medicare, which is a way for citizens 65 and older to access health insurance. Ann Studards, 75, of Medina draws Social Security and also has Medicare. She worked for 50 years, paid Social Security the whole time and now she depends heavily on it.
“Social Security makes it difficult to plan your future. You have to plan your money wisely,” Studards said.
Studards went on to explain that if it weren’t for her Social Security and her deceased husband’s retirement, she wouldn’t be able to survive.
Young people should not get Social Security and retirement confused. They both are very important for the future and come out of the earnings from the job or career of the person, but Social Security is through the government.
Even though retirement is another program from Social Security, it is drawn through the actual company or business someone has worked for. According to a focus group of people 65 and up, it is smart to start both of these earlier.
John Paul Pannell, a 22-year-old Marketing major at UTM, feels that Social Security is misused by the government and older generations are benefiting from it, but younger generations are not.
“The government is so busy paying off debt, by the time we are old enough to draw Social Security, there won’t be any money left for us,” Pannell said.
Although some may think he has a good point, Studards has a different outlook because she is from an older generation.
“Nobody needs to complain about having to pay this now while you’re young. First of all, they should think of it as helping their grandparents or elders. Second, they may need it to survive one day,” Studards said.
Social Security is seen and used from both sides in some way. Ultimately, it can benefit college students to begin thinking about Social Security and its benefits in the long run. Even though the younger generation isn’t known for being very patient, especially when it comes to money, they will see the benefits when it is time for their earnings to be acquired later on.
