Social Security Offices

The American Social Security System was the American response to the worldwide economic depression that started on October 29, 1929, a date also known as Black Tuesday. The depression started in the United States following a drastic decline in stock market prices.Many observers claim that the collapse of the stock market was due to the failure of Florida land prices when it was revealed that much of the Florida land involved in multi million dollar real estate schemes were, in reality, under water.

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. In truth, the timing of the Great Depression varied across nations; however, in most countries it started in 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression - cite_note-1

It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. The depression originated in the United States, after a fall in stock prices that began around September 4, 1929, and became worldwide news with the stock market crash of (known as Black Tuesday). Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by an estimated 15%. By comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the more recent Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s. However, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II.

The Social Security System was created during the great depression of 1935 by the then President Franklin D Roosevelt in an attempt to provide some limited retirement benefits for workers.  In 1939, benefits were added for the wives and minor children of retired workers. In 1965, Medicare health care benefits were also added to the Social Security System. All of these benefits are paid for by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act which created a tax on worker wages known as the FICA tax which is withheld from a worker’s salary by the employer and paid monthly to the Social Security Administration. Beneficiaries who participate in the Social Security program receive monthly checks from the Social Security Administration. For example, in 2013, the total Social Security expenditures to beneficiaries were 1.3 trillion dollars.

The rhythm of life, at least in the Western World, is the result of our being born, (hopefully) being educated, falling in love, getting married, having children, getting a job, keeping the job, educating the children, saving money for the moment when we can no longer work, retiring, looking for and getting another job to keep ourselves occupied.

We can count on Social Security being there in our retirement to keep ourselves above water so that we can enjoy our grandchildren

The Social Security System turned 80 years old on August 14, 2015