The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1951-03-22
Information On
SociaI Security
INFORMATION ON SOCIAL
HOW NEW SOCIAL SECURITY
BENEFITS AFFECT UNION
PENSION PLANS
BY SIDNEY MARGOLIUS

five million workers are now GOV.
vered by employer pension plans
while still more have gained Other
health and welfare benefits.
In fact, the union drives for pen.
sion, insurance and other benefits
are credited by many observers
with having helped persuade Con
gress to expand Social Security
The raise in Federal benefits saves
employers money since most of the
new pension contracts require the
employer to pay only the difference
between Social Security and the
company pension currently $100-
$125 a month in many contracts).
Workers whose unions negotiat-
ed private pension plans still gain
from the expanded Social Security
benefits, particularly men with
families. Federal payments are
given to wives of retired workers
when they too reach 65, and to any
dependent children under 18, but
such payments aren't counted in
figuring the employers payments
under most recent contracts.
In another way the higher Fed
eral payments assist workers whose
unions secured private pensions
A man takes his Social Security
rights with him when changing
Jobs. To collect the private pension
he has to work for the Same en-
ployer 25 years in most cases, al
though in some areas unions are
seeking joint pension plans where
by a worker can move between a
number Of companies.
How Much Needed to Retire?
The new larger Social Security
payments repair the erosion Of IN
flation on the old scale but still
don't meet all requirements Of old
age or family security.
A typical monthly wage for
workers retiring in the next decade
may run about $500 a month (aver-
age industrial wages are now close
to that mark. A man averaging
$500 a month after 1850 would be
entitled to retirement pension OF
$50 a month go per cent OF his
first 500, Is per cent of the next
$1,000. At 65 his wife would get
$40, for total of $120. But because
of the new upsurge in living costs,
a typical retired couple would need
about $190- $500 month for very
moderate standard of living in a
large city, even if prices don't rise
much more, u. S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics studies indicate. The pen
sion would fall short by $40.
To estimate how much additional
savings the average elderly couple
might need at today's price levels,
note that the life expectancy OF al
65-year-old person is II more
wears. 1t takes about $500 in saw
ings to provide $40 month for
IL years including the interest the|
money would earn at average rates.
Of course there's no "averageI
person" who can figure to the year
how long he'll live nor just how
much money he'll need. But this
formula does indicate good chunk
of personal savings or occasional
employment are still necessary mi
addition to the Social Security pen
sion.
Similarly, the family Insurance.
while one of the most valuable tea-
lures of Social Security, Doesn't
completely protect a family II ltsl
breadwinner dies. At current lv-
ing costs, a widow with two child
rem needs about 1920 a month forl
a moderate standard of living in a |
large city. But the most any fam
ilv NAV receive under the law Isl
$50 a month. SO there's a gap OF
about $40 a month there too;
There's another hole in the Social
bulwark: the widow
stop too when the young
est child reaches Is, to resumed
when she's 65. In the case OF a wo-
man of, say, 80, whose youngest IS
say, three, she must expect to go
to work at so and keep with it un-
I'll she's 65 or rely on help from
,he kids.
How much additional insurance
does a man need to protect hlS
'amily? Here's a formula when
AN help you estimate your needs:
t takes $4,000 whether insur-
,nce. savings and bonds, or other
property, or a combination OIL
hem) to provide $50 month for
20 years, including the interest
armed, or $4,000 to close the
ypical gap of $40 a month shown
Lbove.
Actually that's more insurance.
han many wage-earners can al
ord, let alone more than most
AIRY. Even term insurance-gen-
rally the only type reasonable
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