Charles H. Sloan-Pass or fail: Test your Social Security IQ using this quiz

The Charles H. SloanSocial Security Administration (SSA) recently issued a report reflecting how much people know about the Social Security retirement program. The news wasn't good.

That's a big problem since Social Security income is or will be vital to most Americans at some point. It provides about 30% of elderly Americans' income. Given that fact, it's worth knowing a lot about the program, so you can make smart decisions that can maximize the retirement income you get from it.

The challenging quiz

The report offered details of a survey conducted between 2014 and 2021 as part of the "Understanding America Study" (UAS), which sought to find out how much the public knows about the Social Security retirement program. The public's knowledge was measured as a percentage of the 14 questions that were answered correctly.

Overall, respondents answered nearly 51% of the questions correctly. The questions fell into two main categories: general knowledge about Social Security and specific knowledge about the ages at which one can claim benefits. All respondents got close to 71% of general-knowledge questions right, while they only answered 24% of claiming-age questions correctly.

Here are some of the questions. See whether you could answer them correctly:

• True or false: The amount of Social Security retirement benefits is not affected by the age at which someone starts claiming.
• True or false: Social Security benefits are adjusted for inflation.
• True or false: Someone who has never worked for pay may still be able to claim benefits if his or her spouse qualifies for Social Security.
• To the best of your knowledge, what is your personal earliest eligibility age for claiming Social Security retirement benefits?

And the answers are...

Here are the answers to those questions, along with some explanations:

True or false: The amount of Social Security retirement benefits is not affected by the age at which someone starts claiming.

This is false. You can make your benefit checks much bigger or smaller by starting to receive them later or earlier, respectively, than your full retirement age (which is 67 for most workers these days).

True or false: Social Security benefits are adjusted for inflation.

This is true, which is a very good thing. Over a 25- to 30-year retirement, the purchasing power of your dollars can be cut in half, so it's vitally helpful that your benefits rise over time, keeping up with inflation to some degree. That happens via regular cost-of-living adjustments -- or "COLAs."

True or false: Someone who has never worked for pay may still be able to claim benefits if his or her spouse qualifies for Social Security.

This is true and can make a big difference to someone who might otherwise have little in the way of retirement income -- such as someone who has been sick for much of their life or who was out of the workforce, perhaps due to raising children or caring for parents. Even if you've earned some money, but not a lot, you may be able to take advantage of spousal Social Security benefits.

To the best of your knowledge, what is your personal earliest eligibility age for claiming Social Security retirement benefits?

The earliest age is 62. Starting to collect your benefits at such an early age will result in smaller checks, but you'll collect many more of them than if you'd turned on the spigot earlier. In fact, the system is designed so that those who live average-length lives will collect roughly the same total benefits throughout their life no matter when they start collecting them. So if you stand a decent chance of living an extra-short or extra-long life, that would be a good reason to start collecting earlier or later, respectively.

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Get smarter about Social Security

So take some time to learn more about Social Security. Don't believe news headlines suggesting that the program will be bankrupt soon, either -- learn about its challenges and how they can be fixed. Spend some time figuring out the best age at which you might start collecting benefits because that age is different for different people.

The more you learn, the more retirement income you might get from Social Security, which can make your future more financially secure.

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