What happens to your Social Security check in wake of federal shutdown?

Even though a government shutdown began at midnight Friday, those who receive Social Security checks will still receive them as usual. /File photo.

WARREN COUNTY –With the federal government effectively closed down less than 12 hours later, a Social Security expert provided timely and good news for many area residents Friday, January 19, at a noon service club luncheon.

Invited for a second visit in a year by the Rotary Club of Front Royal, Arlington financial planner Matt Ward zeroed in on Social Security benefits, specifically on what may happen to them IF the government was closed down by a failure to approve a federal budget by midnight Friday. Many “pensioners” – and Warren County has many pensioners – worried that with a government closure threatening, their benefits would cease, at least temporarily.

Of course, at midnight Friday, on a 51-49 U.S. Senate vote, the federal government was, indeed, closed indefinitely.

Answering a question from his appreciative audience and amid laughter and applause, Ward said loudly and assuredly: “NO! your Social Security benefits will NOT stop. You will continue to receive them without interruption “and forever! Social Security benefits are NOT affected at any point by government closures!

Ward otherwise stuck to his prepared script which was devoted entirely to Social Security. At the outset he asked Rotarians and others to pose questions that they most definitely wanted answered in his allotted time frame. Complicated as many were, answer them he did, earning himself a long, hearty applause rarely heard for a guest speaker at a regular Rotary meeting at Houlihan’s Restaurant on Route 522 North. The luncheon was, as always, open to the public.

The second of four questions from the floor regarded the consequence of the pending government closure on the Social Security retirement program – specifically, “Will we continue to receive our checks?”

Other answers that he wove into his speech (or lecture) were more convoluted and often were prefaced with “it depends.” One of those, for example, was, when potential retirees first see the three main options they must consider before collecting that first check: should you (a) start collecting early (b) start at full retirement age (66) or (c) start up to a few years after full retirement age. The answer, “It depends…” followed by 10 minutes of pros and cons including betting on longevity, considering spousal benefits, tax consequences, and the role social benefits would play in one’s total retirement income.

The areas covered in an always entertaining and educational talk are contained in a handout Ward provided titled “Social Security Savvy.”

For official information on Social Security, you may go to the Social Security website, “Understanding the Benefits” 2016.

He also appeared to recommend seeking a local, respected financial advisor well before retirement age.

Finally, however, Ward left the definitive answer to the question so many of us were asking ourselves when the federal government closed down at midnight last night – and the answer was “No!”

The checks will keep coming.