Many 'boomers' rushing to claim Social Security
By Daniel de Vise
USA Today
..... At a recent internal meeting, a Social Seucrity adminstrator projected some number on a screen to illustrate a remarkable trend" New benefit claims were up by more than 15% in March, [2025] compared with the same month a year ago. [2024]
.....
Leland Dudek, the acting Social Security commissioner, chimed in to ask the presenter if the chart showed what he thought it did: that Americans are rushing to claim Social Security now, because they're worried about the stability of the retirement trust fund in the future.
..... "Fear-mongering has driven people to claim benefits earlier, 'cause they're afraid they're not going to claim benefits at all," he said.
..... "Yes," the staffer replied. "Your exactly right."
..... The new Trump administration has thrown Social Security into upheaval, with a cascade of staff cuts, rule changes, website outages and leadership shuffles, a routine that has played out across the federal bureaucracy under the cost-cutting of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
..... Instability at Social Security could spell trouble for millions of Americans more who are counting on them in the future.
..... As a result of that fear, thousands of Americans seem to be claiming Social Security benefits, early. Pending Social Security claims totaled 580,887 in March 2025, up from 500,527 in March 2024.
..... An administrator shared the data at a March 28 [205] operational meeting, which the agency posted on YouTube in a gesture of transparency. The spike in claims was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
..... The rise in claims is unusual, the unidentified administrator told his colleagues, because claims usually tick down in the early moths of the year, not up.
.....
Fear about the future of Social Security may be only one of several reasons why claims are rising. In an April 29 [2025] email to USA Today, Social Security officials listed other "key reasons" more people are filing claims now. among them:
* A large wave of baby boomers is entering retirement, sparking a surge of new claims.
* The Social Security Fairness Act triggered a separate wave of claims from public workers in 2025.
..... Yet, clearly, fear has gripped many Americans over the stability of Local Security. At the March 28 [2025] meeting, administrators talked of fearful beneficiaries flooding filed offices with questions about benefits.
..... Some visitors asked for certified copies of earnings records, even thought the information is readily available Online.
.....
"Why are they coming? They're nervous' one administrator said.
..... At one point in the meeting, summing up what he had heard, Dudek said, "I think we have a lot of customers that, right now, a lot of Americans that are very uneasy."
..... President Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged not to harm Social Security, a program so sacred to the American public that most politicians consider it untouchable. But musk and DOGE have turned the agency on its ear, program advocates say, ostensibly searching for evidence of waste and fraud.
..... In an April 29 [2025] release, the agency said it had identified more than $1 billion is cost savings through "new, common-sense approaches" to payroll, contracts and grants, travel and purchase-card policies, among other areas.
..... The release said the agency has modernized its telephone network, enhanced fraud prevention, updated death records and improved payment accuracy. Officials stressed that no field office has been prematureness closed, although leaked agency plans suggest4ed office closures were contemplated.
..... In recent weeks, news of the turmoil at Social Seleucid caused fretful Americans to telephone or visit the agency, seeding further chaos. In the end, rumors of long wait times and swamped field offices became self-fulfilling prophecies.