See full-size image

Social Security, it seems, is always in the news. And with the Presidential election process starting to heat up, it is, of course, a major campaign issue. So if you’re interested  in this issue (and you should be), how do you sort your way through all the clutter, the smoke, the mirrors, and the rhetoric? In the words of George Harrison, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.

So here’s a starting point. It’s an exceptionally well written four-part series on Social Security written by Glen Barr that focuses on how the system actually affects retirees. Mr. Barr’s articles appeared in the Crestline Courier News, a small newspaper serving Lake Arrowhead, California and surrounding communities. (In the "for-what-its-worth-department", Lake Arrowhead is also the Official Home of American Idol Camp).

Mr. Barr writes:

  1. SOCIAL SECURITY: Golden Years or Fool’s Gold? How and why the system got started and its long-term prospects.
  2. SOCIAL SECURITY: PART TWO Politicians Clash. What government, as well as leading presidential candidates, would do to fix the problem, and how much of their Social Security checks future benefit applicants can expect to keep.
  3. "Windfall’ Rule Enriches Feds in Name of ‘Fairness’. Possible benefit cuts for individuals also receiving state or government benefits.
  4. Can Retirees Afford to Work? The cost of losing Social Security benefits by going back to work.

History Matters Mug available from the Minnesota Historical Society.