Name from Confusion posted over 6 years ago:

Future retirees may indeed be understating their expected SS benefits, but. The question to ask is also whether future retirees are understating their needs at/during retirement. I think people should not be counting on SS benefits at all with their retirement planning, especially younger people. Personally/politically I think SS should be a true insurance policy for retirement planning failure. (That sure would wake [at least some] people up into saving and investing more during their lifetime) You don't get your homeowner's insurance premiums back if your house didn't burn down, you just keep paying premiums in the hope that it doesn't burn down. I also think that the move from Defined Benefit (company pension) to Defined Contribution (IRA/401\403-type) methods has come at a transition time when very few people understand the retirement risks they face. There may also be the assumption of many that "the government should/will take care of me." It is unlikely that young people will save enough in Defined Contribution Plans, even when augmented by SS, to satisfy their expected lifestyle in retirement, especially as people live longer. Contrary to many assumptions, especially in the initial years after retirement, retirees want/need to spend more, not less for travel, recreation, hobbies, etc. and healthcare and assisted living increases in the later years. Finally, the accepted "wisdom" that, at retirement, a retirement investment portfolio will be liquidated (and possibly run out) over time (what time?) suggests poor (investment) retirement planning. Properly invested, almost anyone has the potential in the course of their working life to accumulate a PROPERLY STRUCTURED portfolio that can actually INCREASE during retirement. The keys are proper SAVING and investment DISCIPLINE. It's not rocket science, but a portfolio should be OBJECTIVES-BASED, while most of the guidance by the investment community is performance based and product oriented. At retirement (too late) so many people look at their net worth and say "wow, I'm worth a 'lot'" until they look at the expense side and only then wonder if they have saved enough. The whole process is flawed. There's even a former financial editor and columnist for a major periodical who retired, found he/she couldn't live on his/her resources, and is now back to work writing a column on retirement planning. You can't make this stuff up.