Plan on Social Security as a supplement to retirement income rather than a primary source.

The younger you are, the less likely your sources of income in retirement will look like the typical 2010 retirement illustrated below.

What will be different? Social Security. Here's why:

1. When Social Security was established in the 1930s, life expectancy was late 50s for men and early 60s for women. Retirement age was 65. Most people paid Social Security taxes for years while working but either died before collecting benefits or collected them for a short time. Today, retirees typically live — and collect Social Security — decades beyond retirement.
2. Beginning in 2011, an average of 7,000 baby boomers turn 65 daily, the first of a wave of approximately 78 million boomers who will turn 65 by 2029.¹ As a result, fewer workers are paying Social Security tax, while more retirees are collecting Social Security benefits.
3. Social Security's costs are projected to exceed its income from 2010 to 2084. As a result, changes to keep the program solvent could include reduced Social Security benefits.²
   
   What does this mean for you? Think of Social Security as a supplement to your retirement income rather than a primary source.

1 Insured Retirement Institute, Boomer Expectations for Retirement, April 2011
2 Congressional Research Service, Social Security: The Trust Fund, August 2010