Q: Should Americans count on Social Security benefits being available in the future?
That really is a two-pronged question. Will Social Security exist at all? And if so, will it be sufficient to support Americans who are retired or become disabled?
In order to know what the future holds, it may help to look back on the history of the Social Security retirement benefits system as well as Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”) and Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) programs. While Social Security retirement benefits are paid to workers upon their retirement, the latter two federal government programs pay work-based or need-based benefits to people with different qualifying disabilities as further detailed here.