The social security office released the December 2023 snapshot number so we now have a complete picture of social security enrollments for the entire year of 2023. The total enrollments for 2023 is 1.313 million.
We expect the social security enrollments to balloon over the next 7 years as all baby boomers will hit age 65 by 2030 so the numbers will start to trend upward faster and higher.
On average 120,000 baby boomers retired every month in 2023. Unfortunately not all baby boomers have enough money to retire so they will be heavily dependent on social programs to get by day to day.
From BusinessInsider:
Average net worths can get inflated when there’s a lot of wealth held by a few people. A more accurate indication is median net worth, which prevents the ultrarich from skewing the picture. In the Fed’s survey, half of Americans ages 65 to 74 said they had less than $410,000 to supplement Social Security and fund their retirement — much of which might be tied up in real estate. The median retirement account for that age group has only $200,000 — meaning that half of 65- to 74-year-olds have even less saved up. Given these numbers, it’s clear that a significant proportion of boomers are not set up for their final years. In fact, the National Council on Aging estimates that 17 million people over 65 are considered economically insecure.
Source: BusinessInsider.com
What about young people? The worrying news is that college enrollments are down, especially by men. From BBNBreaking:
College enrollment is a cornerstone of the American Dream for many, but recent figures paint a worrying picture. The United States is experiencing a decline in these numbers, with a significant 3.6% drop in freshman enrollment, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Source: BBNBreaking.com
The truth is low birth rates, college costs, and other factors are creating a less education labor force at a time we have millions of people retiring. Ultimately, this leads to an overall decline in the labor participation rate.
We’ll keep an eye on social security enrollments in 2024 so stay tuned, stay profitable and stay solvent…