Discover 9 Surprising Insights About Social Security for Steel Dynamics Employees That Could Transform Your Retirement Planning

Healthcare Provider Update: Healthcare Provider for Steel Dynamics Steel Dynamics, Inc. primarily collaborates with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield as their healthcare provider. This partnership enables them to offer a range of health care benefits to employees, including comprehensive medical coverage options tailored to their workforce's needs. Potential Healthcare Cost Increases in 2026 As Steel Dynamics looks ahead to 2026, employees may face significant healthcare cost increases. The projected spikes in healthcare premiums, particularly in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, suggest that some states could see rate hikes exceeding 60%. Factors such as the potential expiration of enhanced federal premium subsidies and ongoing medical cost inflation are likely to place a heavier financial burden on employees. As companies, including Steel Dynamics, brace for these changes, many are expected to adjust benefit structures, potentially leading to higher deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses for their workforce. Thus, staying informed about these shifts will be crucial for employees managing their healthcare plans in the coming year. Click here to learn more

Social Security’s been a fact of retirement life ever since it was established in 1935. We all think we know how it works, but how much do you really know? If you work for Steel Dynamics, here are nine things that might surprise you.

1. The Social Security trust fund is huge. At $2.9 trillion at the end of 2018, it exceeds the gross domestic product (GDP) of every economy in the world except the ten largest: China, the European Union, the United States, India, Japan, Germany, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, and The United Kingdom.
2. Most workers including those at Steel Dynamics are eligible for Social Security benefits, but not all. For example, until 1984, federal government employees were part of the Civil Service Retirement System and were not covered by Social Security.
3. As an employee of Steel Dynamicsk, you don’t have to work long to be eligible. If you were born in 1929 or later, you need to work for 10 or more years to be eligible for benefits.
4. Benefits are based on an individual’s average earnings during a lifetime of work under the Social Security system. The calculation is based on the 35 highest years of earnings. If an individual has years of low earnings or no earnings, Social Security may count those years to bring the total years to 35.
5. Those at Steel Dynamics may also want to consider how there hasn't always been cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) in Social Security benefits. Before 1975, increasing benefits required an act of Congress; now increases happen automatically, based on the Consumer Price Index. There was a COLA increase of 2.9% in 2019, but there was only an increase of 2% in 2018.
6. Social Security is a major source of retirement income for 67% of current retirees, including those at Steel Dynamics.
7. Social Security benefits are subject to federal income taxes — but it wasn’t always that way. In 1983, Amendments to the Social Security Act made benefits taxable, starting with the 1984 tax year.
8. Social Security recipients received a single lump-sum payment from 1937 until 1940. One-time payments were considered “payback” to those people who contributed to the program. Social Security administrators believed these people would not participate long enough to be vested for monthly benefits.

Featured Video

Articles you may find interesting:

Loading...
• Corporate Employees: 8 Factors When Choosing a Mutual Fund
• Use of Escrow Accounts: Divorce
• Medicare Open Enrollment for Corporate Employees: Cost Changes in 2024!
• Stages of Retirement for Corporate Employees
• 7 Things to Consider Before Leaving Your Company
• How Are Workers Impacted by Inflation & Rising Interest Rates?
• Lump-Sum vs Annuity and Rising Interest Rates
• Internal Revenue Code Section 409A (Governing Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans)
• Corporate Employees: Do NOT Believe These 6 Retirement Myths!
• 401K, Social Security, Pension – How to Maximize Your Options
• Have You Looked at Your 401(k) Plan Recently?
• 11 Questions You Should Ask Yourself When Planning for Retirement
• Worst Month of Layoffs In Over a Year!
• Corporate Employees: 8 Factors When Choosing a Mutual Fund
• Use of Escrow Accounts: Divorce
• Medicare Open Enrollment for Corporate Employees: Cost Changes in 2024!
• Stages of Retirement for Corporate Employees
• 7 Things to Consider Before Leaving Your Company
• How Are Workers Impacted by Inflation & Rising Interest Rates?
• Lump-Sum vs Annuity and Rising Interest Rates
• Internal Revenue Code Section 409A (Governing Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans)
• Corporate Employees: Do NOT Believe These 6 Retirement Myths!
• 401K, Social Security, Pension – How to Maximize Your Options
• Have You Looked at Your 401(k) Plan Recently?
• 11 Questions You Should Ask Yourself When Planning for Retirement
• Worst Month of Layoffs In Over a Year!
9. In January 1937, Earnest Ackerman became the first person in the U.S. to receive a Social Security benefit—a lump sum of 17 cents.

1. Social Security Administration, 2018; CIA World Factbook, 2018
2-5, 7-9. Social Security Administration, 2019
6. Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2018