Category Archives: SSA Statistics

Popular baby names for each state available

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Did you check to see how popular your name is?

Last week the Social Security Administration announced the most popular baby names nationally for 2012. For years after 1879 you can learn the national popularity of a given name by percentage of births or actual number of times used. Go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/babynames/.

Today the 100 most popular names by individual state were revealed based on a 100 percent sample of Social Security number card applications. 

While having fun with baby names on www.socialsecurity.gov, consider creating your own my Social Security account to access your personal Social Security Statement and other services.

Shown here are the top ten male and female names nationally, and for North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota. For any state, go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/babynames/state/index.html. 

 

 

 

 Smartphone Reminder:

Since early May, when visiting the Social Security Administration website, www.socialsecurity.gov, via smartphone (Android, Blackberry, iPhone, and Windows devices) you are redirected to the agency’s new mobile-friendly site. There you can access a mobile version of Social Security’s Frequently Asked Questions, an interactive Social Security number (SSN) decision tree to help identify documents needed for a new/replacement SSN card, and mobile publications which you can listen to in both English and Spanish.

How popular is your name?

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Annually near Mother’s Day, Social Security publishes the most popular baby names in the United States for the previous year. Based on Social Security number applications, learn the popular baby names for 2012 at the SSA website, www.socialsecurity.gov. Follow the baby names link at Popular Services.

Nationally for 2012, the five most popular female names are Sophia, Emma, Isabella, Olivia and Ava with the most popular male names being Jacob, Mason, Ethan, Noah and William. 

Jacob and Sophia are repeat champions as America’s most popular baby names for 2012. This is the fourteenth year in a row Jacob tops the list for boys and the second year for Sophia. When visiting the baby names pages, also learn about Social Security benefits for children. 

Learn the most popular names in each State and see how the popularity of a given name changes over time. Popular names by State for births in 2012 will be available here on May 16. In the meantime, you can view the popular names for previous years.

When visiting the baby names pages, also learn about Social Security benefits for children.

How popular is your name? Go to www.socialsecurity.gov and find out.

Budget update in March SSA newsletter

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Did You Know? You can read and subscribe to a free, monthly, Social Security Administration electronic newsletter at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/newsletter/.

Along with other articles, the current Social Security Update has highlights from the March 14, 2013, testimony before Congress by Carolyn Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security.  

Her testimony before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, discussed service delivery challenges facing the agency including budget issues, related to and separate from sequestration. Read her full testimony at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/legislation/testimony_031413.html.

In her testimony, Ms. Colvin noted services provided by the Social Security Administration in Fiscal Year 2012. In part, she said:

“Few government agencies touch as many people as we do. The programs we administer provide a financial safety net for millions of Americans, and many consider them the most successful large-scale Federal programs in our Nation’s history. The responsibilities with which we have been entrusted are significant. In FY 2012, we:

· Paid over $800 billion to almost 65 million beneficiaries;
· Handled over 56 million transactions on our National 800 Number Network;
· Received over 65 million calls to field offices nationwide;
· Served about 45 million visitors in over 1,200 field offices nationwide;
· Completed over 8 million claims for benefits and 820,000 hearing dispositions;
· Handled almost 25 million changes to beneficiary records;
· Issued about 17 million new and replacement Social Security cards;
· Posted over 245 million wage reports;
· Handled over 15,000 disability cases in Federal District Courts;
· Completed over 443,000 full medical continuing disability reviews (CDR); and
· Completed over 2.6 million non-medical redeterminations of SSI eligibility.”

Also within her testimony, Ms. Colvin stated ongoing budget driven challenges facing the agency, related to and separate from sequestration.  In part, she said:

“The current budget situation is exacerbating the negative effects of over two straight years of funding levels nearly a billion dollars below the President’s budget requests. With fewer employees to serve our customers, we are seeing serious signs of service deterioration. Examples include:

- This week, close to 12,000 visitors to our field offices will have to wait over 2 hours to be served, a figure that has almost tripled in just the last 4 months;

-The average wait time for field office visitors without an appointment increasing by 40 percent, from just 21 minutes in FY 2010 to about 30 minutes through January of FY 2013;

-Our 800-number average busy rate increasing from 4.6 percent of all calls in FY 2010 (which equates to 2.6 million calls) to about 15 percent of all calls through January of FY 2013 (which equates to 3.3 million calls and puts us on-pace for a projected 10.5 million calls for FY 2013); and

-Our average speed of answer for the 800-number more than doubling from about 3.5 minutes in FY 2010 to over 7.5 minutes through January of FY 2013.”

Several articles are in Social Security Update each month. Read and subscribe to this free electronic newsletter at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/newsletter/.

 

 

Financial challenges facing the SSA Disability Program

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Stephen C. Goss, Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration, testified before the House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Social Security, on March 14, 2013.  

Speaking about financial challenges facing the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, his full remarks covered these five topics:  

  1. An update on the projected financial status of the DI Trust Fund;
  2. The “drivers” of increasing costs over the past several decades;
  3. The Trustees’ assumptions for future trends in cost;
  4. Changes in the distribution of disabled workers by age and medical diagnosis; and
  5. Past and projected numbers of full medical continuing disability reviews (CDRs).

Using prose and charts, his testimony is easy to understand. While all of it is important, I think that most people will find his first two topics, the projected financial status of the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund and the “drivers” of increasing costs of the DI program, the most useful.

 Read Mr. Goss’s full testimony at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/legislation/testimony_031413a.html.

America Saves Week 2013

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America Saves Week is from February 25 – March 2.

Started in 2007, this annual event reminds us to focus on the importance of saving. To enjoy a comfortable retirement, we should save, invest, and plan throughout all of the stages of our working careers. Including the Social Security Administration, many national, regional and state groups participate in America Saves Week.

You can assess your personal savings progress and find planning tools at the America Saves Week website, http://www.americasavesweek.org/. One of these is the “Ballpark E$timate”, an easy to use interactive tool to help you identify about how much you need to fund a comfortable retirement. The “Ballpark E$timate” takes issues like projected Social Security benefits and earnings assumptions on savings, and turns them into easy to understand results.   

Social Security retirement planning tools are at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/. 

Are you saving for retirement? Financial planners have told me that people need 70-80 percent of pre-retirement earnings for a comfortable retirement. Your particular plans are important in determining your needs but realize that Social Security will not provide all of your needed retirement income. 

Social Security replaces only a percentage of your pre-retirement earnings and was never intended to provide all of your retirement income. By design, Social Security amounts are computed so that lower-paid workers get a higher return than highly paid workers. For example, lower-paid workers could get a retirement benefit that equals about 55 percent of their pre-retirement earnings. The average replacement rate for highly paid workers is about 25 percent. 

In 2010, 88% of married couples and 85% of nonmarried persons aged 65 or older received Social Security benefits. Unfortunately, for many people Social Security is the major source of income. As reported in Facts & Figures about Social Security, 2012, in 2010 Social Security provided at least 50 percent of total income for 53 percent of age 65+ couples and 74 percent of aged nonmarried beneficiaries. Social Security provided 90+ percent of income for 23 percent of aged married couples and 46 percent of aged nonmarried beneficiaries. While Social Security is certainly very important, plan now so that Social Security is not your only source of retirement income.

How long are you going to live? When considering when to start your Social Security retirement benefits, one important factor to take into account is how long you might live.  

According to data compiled by the Social Security Administration, a man reaching age 65 today can expect to live, on average, until age 83. A woman turning age 65 today can expect to live, on average, until age 85. About one out of every four 65-year-olds today will live past age 90, and one out of 10 will live past age 95. 

Your retirement can last many years. Plan for it.

 

What are the 2013 Social Security taxable earnings? How much total FICA tax have I paid?

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Q: What are the maximum Social Security taxable earnings for 2013? How much total FICA tax have I paid?

A: In 2013, the taxable maximum amount of wages or self-employment earnings subject to Social Security (FICA) tax is $113,700. 

When you have wages or self-employment income covered by Social Security, you pay Social Security payroll taxes each year up to a maximum amount set by law. For 2013, you pay Social Security taxes on earnings to $113,700. Medicare taxes are paid on all income. There is no Medicare taxable maximum amount.

When you have more than one job in a year, each of your employers must withhold Social Security taxes on your wages without regard to what the other employers may have withheld, so you may potentially have Social Security taxes withheld that exceed the maximum. You can claim a refund of the overpaid taxes when you file your personal income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service.

The combined tax rate for Social Security and Medicare is 7.65 percent. Of this, the Social Security portion is 6.20 percent on earnings up to the applicable taxable maximum amount. The Medicare portion (HI) is 1.45 percent on all earnings. 

For 2013, covered wage or self-employment tax rates are:

  • Employees — the Social Security tax rate is 6.2 percent on income under $113,700 through the end of 2013. The Medicare tax rate is 1.45 percent of all income;
  • Employers — the Social Security tax rate is 6.2 percent. The Medicate tax rate is 1.45 percent; and
  • Self-employed —the Social Security tax rate is 12.4 percent on income under $113,700 through the end of 2013. The Medicare tax rate is 2.9 percent.

The taxable base amount has changed frequently over the years. Yearly maximum taxable earnings from 1937 to 2013 are at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/maxtax.htm#maxEarnings.

The three components of Social Security are known as OASDI for old-age (retirement), survivors and disability insurance. The Social Security payroll tax paid by employers, employees and the self-employed is divided between the old-age (retirement) / survivors fund and the separate disability fund. Most goes to the retirement / survivors fund.

How much total FICA tax have you paid? This depends on your total earnings and if you have wages or self-employment. You can use the following link, then go to table #2.A4, to estimate how much Social Security payroll tax you have paid since starting to work. 

The Social Security Annual Statistical Supplement, 2012, contains detailed FICA payroll tax information.

  • Table 2.A3 contains the annual maximum taxable earnings and percentages to the different SSA programs and Medicare.
  • Table 2.A4 contains the maximum annual amount of contributions, 1937–2012. Use this to estimate your Social Security payroll tax paid since starting to work.The table shows yearly tax maximums payable for an employee or self-employed person since 1937. Employer amounts are not shown, but equal employee amounts. Medicare taxes are not included past 1994 since there has not been a maximum Medicare amount since then. Note footnotes concerning 2011-2012 tax amounts.

 

 

 

Newest Annual Statistical Supplement now online

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The Annual Statistical Supplement, 2012 just became available online at http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2012/index.html.  

There is a massive amount of interesting information here, not just concerning Social Security retirement (old-age), survivors and disability insurance (OASDI), but also about other programs including Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, Black Lung Benefits, and Veterans’ Disability Benefits. Each Table of Contents topic has a link to that section in html or pdf formats.

Specific information provided depends on the topic. At approximately 528 pages in length, you will find something in the Annual Statistical Supplement, 2012 to interest you. The Supplement includes more than 240 statistical tables of comprehensive data on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income. Using Social Security as an example, topics include:

From the Highlights and Trends section, here are two interesting tidbits for you:  

“About 55.4 million persons received Social Security benefits for December 2011, an increase of 1,372,512 (2.5 percent) since December 2010. Sixty-nine percent were retired workers and their spouses and children, 11 percent were survivors of deceased workers, and 19 percent were disabled workers and their spouses and children.”

“OASDI benefit awards in calendar year 2011 totaled 5,567,020, including 2,577,647 to retired workers, 498,248 to their spouses and children, and 885,713 to survivors of insured workers. Benefits were awarded to 998,979 disabled workers and to 606,433 of their spouses and children.”

Again, more than just Social Security information is in the Annual Statistical Supplement, 2012. Enjoy.

Open Government, Social Security, OIG and You

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The Social Security Administration website has a section devoted to the open government initiative (http://ssa.gov/open/index.html).   

More than benefit information, a lot of Social Security material is there including research, budget and finance information, and actuarial data. You can also view public service announcements, order publications and watch webinars.

Today, I am highlighting the Open Government News section. Topics posted there during a month have a short introduction with links for more information.

Posted in early January was notice of the SSA Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) 2012 Fall Semiannual Report to Congress, covering the period April – September 2012.  

While this straightforward name might not set off fireworks, the report includes the organization’s most significant audit, investigative, and legal accomplishments, providing a glimpse of agency activity not often seen by the public.

Many specific examples of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income fraud investigations are included.  

 From the reports Executive Summary:

“During this reporting period, we received 71,867 allegations from SSA employees, the Congress, the public, law enforcement agencies, and other sources. Our agents closed 4,029 criminal investigations, resulting in 269 arrests, 637 indictments and informations, 706 criminal convictions (including pretrial diversions) and 118 civil judgments/civil monetary penalty (CMP) assessments.”

“In the second half of FY2012, we are reporting over $248 million in monetary accomplishments, including over $50 million in SSA recoveries, restitution, fines, settlements, and judgments; and over $197 million in projected savings from investigations resulting in the suspension or termination of benefits. In addition, we participated in multi-agency investigations that resulted in over $30 million in savings, restitution, and recoveries for other agencies.”

Through very important, SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) activity is not usually seen by the public. This report is worth a few minutes of your time.

Open government is for you. 

What is the maximum Social Security retirement amount for 2013?

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Average Social Security benefit amounts as of October 2012 were provided earlier this week.  

Early in 2012, I posted that the maximum Social Security retirement amount payable to a person retiring in 2012 at full retirement age  (FRA) was $2,513 per month. The interest it received surprised me. 

Today I am providing the maximum Social Security retirement monthly amount to a person retiring at FRA in 2013. Full retirement age is 66 for people born in 1943 – 1954. Learn your FRA here. 

The maximum monthly Social Security retirement amount changes each year. The 2013 maximum is more than the 2012 maximum, but will be less than the 2014 amount. Several reasons are responsible for this with a major one being that different years of earnings become available to include in the retirement calculation.  

A person’s best 35 years of earnings are used to compute their full retirement age (FRA) amount. With each new calendar year, a year of potentially higher earnings becomes available for use in computing the FRA amount. Not only might actual earnings be higher, but, depending on the maximum taxable base for that year, more of the earnings could be credited for use in the Social Security computation.

So, if starting SSA retirement in 2013, exactly at full retirement age, without any decrease or increase for earlier or later starting of benefits, and if you earned at least the maximum SSA taxable earnings (the taxable base), in each of the 35 years used in your benefit calculation, then the highest 2013 Social Security retirement amount is $2,533 per month. 

Knowing the highest 2013 Social Security retirement amount is interesting. Estimating your own retirement amount is more useful. Do so with the SSA Retirement Planner tools, especially the Retirement Estimator.  

The Retirement Estimator provides an estimate based on your actual Social Security earnings record at different ages. In addition, use the Estimator to obtain other estimates for different retirement ages and various annual employment earnings amounts. Other SSA online calculators are available for you too. 

Want to see your SSA earnings record? Your online Social Security Statement provides a list of your lifetime earnings, plus family estimates for SSA retirement, survivors and disability benefits.

 

Average Social Security benefit amounts

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Q: How much is the average Social Security benefit amount? 

A: The answer varies widely depending on the type of benefit. Benefits are payable through the three Social Security component programs of Old-Age (Retirement), Survivors and Disability. Within each, a variety of benefits is possible. Retirement and disability benefits could be payable to the worker based on his or her own Social Security number record as well as to eligible family members such as spouses or children. Survivor benefits are to eligible family members.  

In October 2012, the average monthly Social Security amount paid to all beneficiaries, for all types of Social Security benefits, was $1,131. 

For retirement benefits, the average worker, based on his or her individual work record, received $1,237 that month. More October 2012 data is here.  

Are you average? Estimate your own retirement amount with the SSA Retirement Planner tools, especially the Retirement Estimator. Get your online Social Security Statement for individual and family estimates for SSA retirement, survivors and disability benefits.

 

 
Type of beneficiary

Beneficiaries

Total monthly benefits (millions of dollars)

Average monthly benefit (dollars)

  

Number (thousands)

Percent

  
All beneficiaries

56,577

100.0

64,007

1,131.32

  
Old-Age Insurance    
Retired workers

36,593

64.7

45,275

1,237.28

  
Spouses

2,285

4.0

1,402

613.33

  
Children

605

1.1

366

605.30

  
Survivors Insurance    
Widow(er)s and parents a

4,212

7.4

4,900

1,163.36

  
Widowed mothers and fathers b

154

0.3

137

887.45

  
Children

1,886

3.3

1,479

784.40

  
Disability Insurance    
Disabled workers

8,802

15.6

9,780

1,111.09

  
Spouses

164

0.3

49

298.95

  
Children

1,876

3.3

619

329.96