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Dear Savvy Senior,

I am 83 years-old and want to know about this notch baby thing. I don’t think it’s fair that people born between the years of 1917 and 1921 get less Social Security than others. Can you explain this to me? If I’m being notched out of my fair Social Security share, I want it back.

Thanks for clearing this up

Notched Senior

Dear Notched,

You’re not being "notched." I pro-mise! Over the years there’s been a lot of confusing misinformation out there about notch babies but the truth of the matter is that you are probably being treated fairly and are getting your fair share of Social Security ben-efits that Congress intended. Let me explain.

What are Notch Babies? "Notch Babies" are people born between 1917 and 1921 who receive Social Security benefits calculated using a different formula than people born before or after that time.

Why are there Notch Babies? The reason for the Notch Baby syndrome began back in 1972 when Congress enacted changes to the Social Secu-rity law that established annual cost-of-living (COLA) increases in Social Security benefits. The formula that was set by law was flawed and actually paid too much to beneficiaries, and if this wasn’t corrected the system was at risk of going bankrupt. Therefore the law was changed in 1977 to fix the formula, but by that time, many people born between 19 10 and 1916 had already retired and had their benefits calculated using the incorrect formula. Congress, in a com-passionate move, opted not to take anything away from those retirees, therefore those people are receiving additional money. Congress, in an-other compassionate move, was also concerned about the impact of this change on people about to retire, so a special "transition" formula was created for people who were within five years of retirement age when the law was changed.

Social Security Classes

There are three "classes" of Social Security beneficiaries.

• Benefits for people born before 1917 are calculated under the incorrect 1972 formula, so they are actually getting a windfall (additional mo-ney), compared to the original intent of Congress.

• People born between 1917 and 1921 are paid the benefits calculated using either correct 1977 formula or the transition formula, whichever is higher.

• The rest of us! People born after 1921, who have their benefits calculated using the correct 1977 formula.

Added Confusion Further confusing the Notch Baby issue it that some people forget that Social Security ben-efits are dependent on the earnings of the person whose work record is calculated. In other words, the more that was paid into Social Security, the higher the benefits will be. So, someone born in 1916 with a high income would have a significantly larger ben-efit than a lowincome beneficiary born in 1917.

Notch Baby Beware There are some phony fund raising groups that solicit funds from people (whom they call victims) born during the 19171921 period. They want your money to help fix the problem, but remember, there’s no problem to be fixed, so don’t send your money!

Savvy Summary

The bottom line is that if you are a Notch Baby you’re not being cheated out of your Social Security benefits which is figured by the correct Social Security formula. The people who are actually getting the incorrect So-cial Security amount are the folks born between 1910 and 1916. But since it’s more than Uncle Sam intended to give them, they aren’t complaining. But then again, neither would I.

For more information on Social Se-curity visit their Web site at wwwssa.gov.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Nor-man, OK 73070, or visit www.savvysenior.org