Social Security

About Social Security
Many Americans have questions about their future Social Security Benefits and this section hopes to address many of them. There are sections devoted to learning more about your Social Security benefits and a calculator that helps you determine what your benefits will actually be. For both of these sections, we provide a direct link to the official Social Security website.

The term "Social Security" refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. Since its creation in 1935, it has been often been referred to as an important leg of the "three legged stool" of retirement savings- the other two being a worker's pension plan and personal savings.

Questions about the long-term sustainability of the Social Security program are not new. The past several presidents have supported initiatives to reform the system and proposals to privatize Social Security became part of the debate during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush presidencies. Most recently, President Obama issued an executive order mandating the creation of the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which made ten specific recommendations to ensure the sustainability of Social Security.