How well do you know your Social Security?

  1. Approximately ____ Americans receive a Social Security benefit.
  1. 45 million (correct answer)
  2. 20 million
  3. 10 million
  1. Approximately ____ percent of all Social Security beneficiaries are retired workers. The remainder receive disability, survivor, spousal, or children's benefits.
  1. 99
  2. 63 (correct answer)
  3. 50
  1. If you were born in 1960 or later, you can first collect your full retirement benefits at age ___.
  1. 62
  2. 65
  3. 67 (correct answer)
  1. Social Security benefits are raised annually with increases in the cost of living in order to:
  1. Make sure the purchasing power of benefits doesn't decrease over time. (correct ans.)
  2. Supplement benefits for people with income below the poverty line.
  3. Decrease the deficit
  1. The amount of your Social Security benefit is based on the:
  1. Amount of taxes you pay.
  2. Your average annual earnings over your career. (correct answer)
  3. Your last three years of work.
  1. The combined (employer and employee) payroll tax for Social Security benefits is ___ on earnings up to $80,400.
  1. 3.1%
  2. 6.2%
  3. 12.4% (correct answer)
  1. The FICA taxes you pay into Social Security are primarily ____.
  1. Used to pay the benefits of current retirees (correct answer)
  2. Held in an account under your name
  3. Held in a government bank account
  1. Pay-as-you-go is a term used to describe the method by which Social Security traditionally operated to pay benefits. It means:
  1. General revenues are used to pay Social Security benefits.
  2. Taxes on the benefits of rich people are used to pay benefits to poor people.
  3. Taxes on current workers are used to pay benefits to current beneficiaries. (correct answer)
  1. The surplus income from Social Security taxes is invested in Treasury securities. If the Trust Funds need to redeem their Treasury securities, the money to do this comes from ____.
  1. Income tax dollars (general revenue) (correct answer)
  2. Payroll taxes
  3. The bank
  1. In 1945, there were 42 workers for every Social Security beneficiary. Today, there are about ____ workers for every beneficiary.
  1. 30
  2. 9
  3. 3 (correct answer)
  1. In ____, Social Security taxes will not be enough to pay full benefits.
  1. 2016 (correct answer)
  2. 2038
  3. 2075
  1. In 2038, Social Security taxes will be enough to cover ___ of program costs.
  1. 50%
  2. 73% (correct answer)
  3. 100%