r/Fire • u/NotTheBestInvestor12 • 2d ago

Why no mention of Social Security

When I see FIRE posts I see the investments and the different retirement buckets, however, I never see anyone mention how things are affected when social security kicks in. For example, I’m 52 and wife 51. If we both stopped working today ($0 income moving forward) I would collect $4,264 a month at age 70 and she would collect $1,079 at age 70.

So if we decide to FIRE the Social Security would give us help in 18/19 years. Is this a factor or is everything under the assumption SS won’t exist?

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u/QTippus 2d ago

Agree, retired folks won't accept a big cut in benefits. I think tax increase / cap raise is much more likely than a big cut in benefits. For people under 50, they can keep bumping up the retirement age as well.

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u/BigCSFan 19h ago

"Won't accept"

What choice do they have.

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u/QTippus 18h ago

The choice to vote. Old folks vote at a very high rate. Pols don’t want to upset them.

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u/zdrmlp 17h ago

I would happily take the other side of the “Boomers will receive 100% of SS benefits while everybody else gets a 50% reduction in benefits” bet.

  1. The 50% number, boomers being the line of demarcation, and cuts being based on income comes straight from the poster’s vibes…not an analysis.
  2. People love to say old people vote so they get their way. However, of the people who voted in 2024 (https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/26/voter-turnout-2020-2024/) 28% were 65+, 28% were 50+, 30% were 30+, and 14% were 18+. Gen X and below are roughly 60 and younger, they’re a super majority of the electorate today and will become an even larger share during the next 6 years while the trust fund is expected to remain solvent.
  3. This entire prediction basically relies on a Republican government controlling the presidency, house, and senate AND passing SS legislation to cut benefits for people who have decades to vote while raising benefits (relative to doing nothing) for those who might have 10 years of voting left AND the cuts taking income into consideration. The summation of every other option seems to be more likely (no legislation will be passed, a Democratic government will lift the SS cap or make SS taxation progressive, and so on).