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NPR/KAISER/KENNEDY SCHOOL
SOCIAL SECURITY SURVEY

Part V: Your Retirement

45. Are you currently receiving any Social Security benefits?

46. Do you have any immediate family or close friends receiving Social Security benefits?

46A.(Answer ONLY if you are not retired) Do you currently have a pension plan from work, a 401-K plan, an IRA or Individual Retirement Account, or similar plan, that you participate in, or not?

47. (Answer ONLY if you are not retired) Looking ahead to your own retirement, which of the following do you expect to be your biggest source of income?

A. Social Security

B. An employer-paid pension plan

C. Your own personal retirement savings, including things like 401(k) plans

D. Don’t know

49. (Answer ONLY if you are not retired)Looking ahead to when you retire, do you think you will receive more or less in Social Security benefits than you paid into the system, or will you receive about what you paid in?

50. (Answer ONLY if you are retired) Thinking about your own retirement years, past and future, do you think you will receive more or less in Social Security benefits than you paid into the system, or will you receive about what you paid in?

51. (Answer ONLY if you are not retired) Have you begun to save money for your retirement, or not?

52. (Answer ONLY if you are not retired and have started saving for retirement) How much money did you set aside for retirement LAST YEAR? Please include any personal savings that you saved or invested for retirement purposes, including any employer-sponsored savings plans such as 401k or Keough plans?

53. (Answer ONLY if you are not retired and have not started saving for retirement) What is the main reason you haven't started saving money for your retirement yet? Is it mainly...?

A. Because you haven't started thinking yet about retirement saving
B. Because you don't have enough money to save
C. Because you don't have a retirement savings plan available to you through work
D. Because you'll have enough money from Social Security and Medicare
E. Because you don't think you'll need the money
F. Because you would rather spend the money on something else<
G. Other/None
H. Don’t know

54. (Answer ONLY if you are not retired and have started saving for retirement) Do you think the amount of money you have been saving, combined with what you'll receive from Social Security and other types of income, will be adequate to provide a comfortable living when you retire, or not?

55. (Answer ONLY if you are not retired and have started saving for retirement but do not think it will be adequate) What is the main reason the amount of money you have been saving will not be adequate? Is it mainly...

A. Because you don't have enough money to save more
B. Because you started to save too late
C. Because you would rather spend the money on something else
D. Because rules in the retirement plan you now have won't allow you to put any more money in it
E. Other/none
F. Don’t know

55A. (Answer ONLY if you are not retired) Looking ahead to when you are eligible for Social Security, which do you think is MOST likely ...

A. You will get MOST of the Social Security benefits that are currently provided
B. You will get SOME benefits, but not all that are currently provided
C. You will get NONE of the Social Security benefits that are currently provided
D. Don’t know

D06. There are many activities a person could do to influence a government decision about the future of Social Security. During the past year, have you personally done any of the following things?

a. Contributed money to a political candidate
b. Contributed money to an organization whose goal is to influence government decisions about the future of Social Security
c. Contacted your representative or another public official
d. Participated in a forum or town meeting about the future of Social Security
e. Voted for or against a candidate based on that person’s position on Social Security