Discover 9 Surprising Insights About Social Security for Targa Resources Employees That Could Transform Your Retirement Planning

Healthcare Provider Update: Targa Resources offers medical, dental, and vision insurance, along with HSA/FSA options and mental health benefits 2. With ACA insurers requesting double-digit hikes for 2026, Targas internal coverage may help employees avoid steep out-of-pocket increases expected in the marketplace. Click here to learn more

The 2026 Middle East energy crisis has elevated inflation expectations broadly, adding new complexity for Targa Resources professionals weighing the Social Security claiming decision, as cost-of-living adjustments and benefit taxation thresholds take on greater significance.

In Q1 2026, Brent crude has surged to approximately ~$107/barrel and WTI to ~$94/barrel, as the ongoing Middle East conflict has restricted critical energy supply routes and strained global petroleum inventories.

The disruption extends beyond crude: Henry Hub natural gas is near ~$2.94/MMBtu and European TTF is near ~$16.90/MMBtu as the conflict has effectively shut down a major LNG export hub in the Persian Gulf.

The 2026 energy price shock has reinforced the value of Social Security's inflation-adjusted benefits for Targa Resources professionals, as the guaranteed, COLA-adjusted income stream may serve as a critical hedge against energy-driven price increases.

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 Targa Resources, here are nine things that might surprise you.

1. The Social Security trust fund is huge. At approximately $2.7 trillion in combined reserves, it exceeds the gross domestic product (GDP) of every economy in the world except the ten largest, though the fund balance has been declining in recent years as benefit payments have grown.
2. Most workers including those at Targa Resources 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 Targa Resourcesk, 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 Targa Resources 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. The 2025 COLA increase was 2.5%, following a 3.2% increase in 2024 and an 8.7% increase in 2023 - one of the largest in decades.
6. Social Security is a major source of retirement income for 67% of current retirees, including those at Targa Resources.
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.

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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, 2025; CIA World Factbook, 2025
2-5, 7-9. Social Security Administration, 2025
6. Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2024