What you need to know about Social Security: Money article

Walter Updegrave (yes, that's his name) of Money magazine has written a good article de-mystifying some core points about Social Security, so check this out and share it with your family and friends: How social security factors in to your retirement planning (Money.cnn.com, Sep. 17, 2009). For example, here's a quote on one aspect that isn't usually explained:

It's true that if you collect early and work at the same time, your payments may be reduced (once you reach full retirement age, feel free to toil away; your golf game might suffer, but there's no effect on your Social Security). Your checks will be reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn over an annual limit, currently $14,160 (the hit is considerably less during the calendar year you hit full retirement age).

But despite what you often read or hear, you don't actually "lose" that money. At full retirement age Social Security will begin compensating you with a larger check for the benefits that were withheld. And you'll receive that higher payment for the rest of your life.

In these times, even I wonder how much certainty there can be about all this, but there's sone information about Social Security's ability to keep paying out that might surprise you (again, I can't ascertain the probability of accuracy). Many of us will be surprised if it manages to stay solvent at all past 2020! But it's easy to see that some fixes, like increasing the amount of annual compensation from which Social Security taxes are collected, are likely on the way. Any reasonable measures to retain a lifeline increasing numbers of people will rely on can only be helpful for the many mired in the economic downdraft.