NY25-12: Towards Inclusive Social Security Retirement Planning: Evaluating Government Financial Guidance for Low-Income and Health Fragile Older Workers
Many commercial firms target the upper middle class and wealthy with marketing pitches about how to maximize Social Security benefits by choosing a later retirement date. However, low-income workers nearing retirement face unique challenges. Though, they are often advised to delay claiming Social Security’s Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) benefits to increase lifetime income security,[1-5] many cannot afford to postpone OASI due to employment barriers (fragile health/disability and discrimination) and lack of savings/pensions.[6,7] Moreover, decreasing life expectancy[8-10] combined with lack of knowledge of the complex rules around Full Retirement Ages, delaying claiming, and the consequences of working post claiming, heighten the risk of costly errors in retirement planning.[11-14]
Social Security and many local government agencies such as NYC’s Department for the Aging (“NYC Aging”) provide consultation services, but the form or effectiveness of the advice to low-income and fragile populations is not known. Advice to fragile households and limited employment prospects needs evaluation. To address these issues we will conduct a mixed-methods analysis with three Specific Aims:
Aim 1: Document the retirement guidance provided by local and federal government financial advisors to low-income and fragile older workers, focusing on how these advisors guide OASI (Old-Age and Survivors Insurance) retirement benefit claims in scenarios common to this group.
Aim 2: Evaluate the advice given by government counselors to low-income and health-vulnerable workers nearing retirement. Assess the assumptions made, factors considered or overlooked, and the overall suitability of their OASI benefit claiming strategies.
Aim 3: Recommend ways for federal and local government financial advisors to improve their effectiveness in assisting low-income and fragile workers with retirement planning. Propose strategies to make their guidance on OASI benefits more inclusive for traditionally underserved groups.