Here are some Social Security numbers I recently ran across that I found interesting. The figures are from the current information available as of October, 2010:
The average retired worker receives $1,172 in monthly Social Security retirement benefits, and the average couple receives $1,892. The average disabled worker receives $1,066 in Social Security disability benefits each month, and this amount increases to $1,803 for a disabled worker with a spouse and child.
The average widow or widower receives a total of $1,106 in Social Security survivor benefits per month, whereas a younger widow or widower with two children receives an average monthly benefit of $2,391.
Each month, over 34 million people receive Social Security retirement benefits, and over 4 million are receiving survivor’s benefits as a widow or widower. Over 8 million people are receiving disability benefits from the Social Security system each month, as well.
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Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
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Considering that the US working age population is 237 million, based on your number listed above it look like approximately 19.4% of the country is being supported by the other 80% that are working.
To be honest, this number seems a little high.
Well, I didn’t actually count them all myself, this is from SSA data. Keep your grain of salt handy when interpreting the numbers, I’d say.
jb