Nearly 50 million receive Social Security benefits and the rest get Supplemental Security Income payments aimed at helping the poor. Part of the Social Security increase will be eaten up by a rise in the cost of Medicare, the giant health care program that covers the elderly and disabled. The average retired couple, both receiving Social Security benefits, will see their monthly check go from $1,722 to $1,761, an increase of $39. The government also announced Wednesday that nearly 12 million wage earners will pay higher taxes next year because the maximum amount of Social Security earnings subject to the payroll tax will rise from $97,500 currently to $102,000. The Social Security Administration on Monday had a ceremony to highlight the opening wave of baby boomer retirements, a generation of 78 million people born from 1946 to 1964. If no changes are made, the Social Security trust fund is projected to deplete its reserves in 2041 and even sooner, in 2017, Social Security is scheduled to start paying out more in benefits than it collects each year in payroll taxes. Read More