Americans Are Claiming Social Security Early, Fearful of Its Future

The Social Security Administration has been shedding staff and changing requirements for claiming benefits over the phone. President Trump has been pushing to cut government spending, though he has vowed not to reduce benefits.

Pending Social Security claims for retirement, survivor and health insurance benefits totaled 580,887 in March, up from 500,527 a year earlier. While multiple factors likely contributed to the increase, agency officials said at a March 28 meeting that “fearmongering has driven people to claim benefits earlier.”

Many effects of the Trump administration’s swift and sweeping changes to federal agencies aren’t yet apparent, but with Social Security, they are already changing households’ financial decisions. Americans have long been anxious about Social Security’s stability, and Trump’s second term is heightening those anxieties.

“That is leading people to make decisions based on fear,” said Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Christine Banner, 65, originally intended to file for her Social Security in about two years. She and her husband Clint Banner, who already receives his benefit, recently decided to file for hers this year.

Christine and Clint Banner decided to file for her Social Security benefits sooner than they had initially planned, due to concerns about possible cuts. Photo: Dan Cool

Trump and his advisers have made claims of widespread fraud in the program, and the Cary, N.C., couple worry the allegations could be used to justify benefit cuts or service disruptions. The Social Security agency has estimated that improper payments represented 0.3% of total benefits.

Christine opted to take her monthly check of $1,633, even though it is about $130 less than she would receive at her full retirement age of nearly 67. That currently amounts to a reduction of more than $1,500 a year. The couple hopes that if they are already receiving benefits, they won’t face any future reductions.

Economists and financial advisers generally discourage claiming early. Benefits increase with each month someone waits to take them beyond the minimum claiming age of 62. The increases stop at age 70.

Benefits starting at 70 are 76% higher than at 62, according to Laurence Kotlikoff, a Boston University economist and founder of Maximize My Social Security. A person who postpones benefits until 70 instead of 62 would come out ahead if they live to at least 80, he said.

She said: “There is no confusion. President Trump has been extremely clear: he promised to protect and strengthen Social Security.”

Calls to the agency since the beginning of October are up 19% compared with the same period a year earlier, officials said at the meeting. Website traffic and field office calls are higher as well, they said.

“I think we have a lot of customers that, right now, a lot of Americans that are very uneasy,” said Leland Dudek, acting Social Security commissioner, at the meeting. Another official said that one woman recently came to a field office “to show her ID because she was afraid she was going to lose access to her benefits.”

Trump is heightening Americans’ anxieties about Social Security’s stability. Photo: Jovelle Tamayo for WSJ

Recent surveys reflect the concern. More than 75% of U.S. adults worry a great deal or a fair amount about Social Security, a 13-year high, according to a March Gallup poll. Democrats expressed greater concern than Republicans.

When Social Security’s finances are referenced negatively in the news, workers tend to report a desire to claim benefits earlier, according to a 2021 study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Social Security’s finances have long been under pressure because of the aging of the population. Unless Congress shores up the retirement program, it is projected to deplete its reserves in 2033, which would trigger a 21% reduction in benefits.

Isabel Barrow, director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines, said she has received an uptick in questions lately from people concerned about Social Security cuts, even among people already receiving benefits. Some asked about the safety of personal data.

Social Security officials said at the meeting that many Americans are visiting field offices for help accessing their accounts on the agency’s website. Some are paying the agency $100 for certified copies of their earnings records, on which benefits are based.

Dan Hietpas, with his wife, Jill, claimed Social Security benefits earlier than planned due to worries about benefit cuts and ‘chaos’ at the agency.

Dan Hietpas, 64, said he had planned to delay claiming until nearly age 67, when he is eligible for his full benefit.

But the Chippewa Falls, Wis., resident, who retired five years ago from teaching, filed in January, due to concerns about benefit cuts and “chaos” at the agency.

His wife Jill Hietpas, 66, began her Social Security last year. The couple printed out their earnings records in case their data disappears or becomes inaccurate.

A Social Security official said at the meeting that personal data is secure and the agency has backups. He acknowledged two website outages in March that he said were brief.

Retirees also take Social Security sooner than expected for reasons including deteriorating health and job losses. About a quarter of people filed for benefits when they turned the minimum claiming age of 62 in 2023, the most recent data available.

Inna Rivilis, an adviser in Windham, N.H. said a few of her clients retiring this year are claiming Social Security sooner than planned. In addition to concerns about changes at the agency, they are worried about withdrawing from their portfolios while the markets are down.

Rivilis has told them to set aside three extra months of cash in case of delays processing claims. The agency said 82% of benefits were processed on time in March.