Don’t count on full Social Security benefits, financial planner warns

Americans approaching retirement should prepare for the possibility of reduced Social Security benefits by reassessing their savings, spending and plans for claiming benefits, according to a recent analysis published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Luke Delorme, a certified financial planner and director of financial planning at Tableaux Wealth in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, recommends that workers test whether their retirement plans could withstand a significant reduction in benefits rather than assume they will receive the full amounts currently projected. “It would be prudent to treat Social Security benefits as a variable number and to develop a financial plan that is sturdy enough to hold up even if that number comes in low,” Delorme wrote. “Consider building a baseline plan that lowers your projected benefit by 20% and see whether it is still viable. If your plan can absorb the risk, great. But if it can’t, consider working a bit longer, delaying when you claim benefits, or saving a little more. “These strategies will be necessary regardless of what Congress does, because resolving the Social Security shortfall in the end will still include reduc...