Few Americans Believe They'll Receive Social Security, Says New FindLaw.com Survey

EAGAN, Minn., Oct. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Only 31 percent of American adults believe that Social Security will still be around when they retire, according to a new survey from FindLaw.com, the most popular legal information website.

The vast majority of Americans are less than confident they'll ever see Social Security checks. Americans are fairly split in their opinions, with roughly equal percentages believing they likely will or will not receive Social Security when they retire. The largest percentage – about 39 percent – say they're not sure.

Do you think Social Security will still be paying benefits when you retire?

Not surprisingly, faith in Social Security rises as people get older. Only 11 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 expect Social Security to still be around when they retire, But even among middle-aged people, less than one-third expect to receive Social Security checks.

People who are currently retired rely on their Social Security checks. The majority of retirees surveyed (56%) say that Social Security accounts more than half of their retirement income. In fact, 36 percent of retirees say their Social Security check makes up more than 75 percent of their retirement income or is their sole source of retirement income.

"Our survey found that people have concerns about the future solvency of the Social Security system," said Stephanie Rahlfs, an attorney-editor with FindLaw.com. "But regardless of what the future holds, the reality is that Social Security doesn't always provide enough income for most people to live comfortably in retirement. Fortunately, there are a number of other ways to save money. Attorneys specializing in estate planning and/or tax laws may be helpful in finding the right investment and estate planning vehicles to create and preserve assets for one's golden years."

Free information on Social Security and other retirement planning information can be found at FindLaw's Social Security and Retirement Planning section, (http://socialsecurity.findlaw.com/).

The FindLaw.com survey was conducted using a demographically balanced survey of 1,000 American adults, and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percent.

Note to editors: Full survey results are available upon request.

CONTACT 
Michelle Croteau
FindLaw
651-687-5330
[email protected]

SOURCE FindLaw.com