Social Security is a topic of much discussion, and for good reason. As per the Social Security Administration (SSA), nearly 69 million Americans receive some kind of Social Security benefit. This includes retired workers and their dependents, disabled workers and their dependents and survivors.<\/p>\n
The average Social Security benefit for retirees is just under $2,000. But while the program was initially designed as a way to supplement retirement income, many recipients rely on it as a primary source of income. In fact, benefits account for 31% of overall income for those ages 65-plus.<\/p>\n
Given how important these monthly paychecks are for people, it\u2019s no wonder that even seemingly small changes to the system are cause for concern. Billionaire investor Mark Cuban pointed out earlier this year there are some major flaws that people (especially seniors) should know about<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a Bluesky post<\/a> from March 2025, Cuban wrote the following message about Social Security: \u201cThe administration is removing phone support for Soc Security recipients. Making it more difficult for seniors to get their checks. It\u2019s a back door way to cut SS benefits. Horrific.\u201d<\/p>\n This post was created in response to Elon Musk\u2019s overhaul of Social Security operations and the Department of Government Efficiency\u2019s (DOGE\u2019s) attempts<\/a> to cut down on alleged fraud in the system.<\/p>\n Check Out: Here\u2019s Who Should Really Be Worried About Social Security Cuts<\/a><\/p>\n Read Next: 6 Safe Accounts Proven To Grow Your Money Up To 13x Faster<\/a><\/p>\n As for concerns about Social Security no longer having phone support, this also appears inaccurate. The SSA offers several automated phone services to those who need them. This includes benefits verification and claim status checks. Social Security recipients can also change their address or request Medicare or tax forms via phone.<\/p>\n In another post on X<\/a>, Mark Cuban cited a second financial trap for seniors: \u201cGot to give Doge credit for being the first to cut entitlements. End telephone support for Social\u00a0 Security, cut dozens of SS offices and make Grandma and Grandpa finally get online to confirm their payments. What an amazing back door way to cut payments!\u201d<\/p>\n Closing Social Security offices means recipients must go online to access their benefits. For seniors, this can be a major barrier \u2014 both to confirming their benefits and maintaining them.<\/p>\n Note: In March, the SSA noted there are no expected permanent closures of any local offices.<\/p>\n While phone support is still largely available, automated services can be frustrating. There\u2019s also the fact that Social Security recipients can no longer receive payments via paper checks in most cases (as of Sept. 30, 2025).<\/p>\n Instead, payments are issued via direct deposit (for those with a bank account) or Direct Express\u00ae Card (for those without a bank account). Enrollment can be done online or via phone:<\/p>\n This is meant to make things more efficient and secure. After all, electronic payments can arrive faster and directly into the linked account.<\/p>\n But this can be a problem for older individuals who aren\u2019t as accustomed to technology. Failure to transition over to the new system could mean a (temporary) disruption in payments.<\/p>\n Social Security has been around since the 1930s. And while there\u2019s a very real chance of insolvency sometime in the next 10 years or less, this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean benefits will be gone. If no changes are made, the program expects to be able to still pay out 80% of the scheduled benefits amount.<\/p>\n Changes to the system, such as how payments are received, can make things tricky for seniors or those who don\u2019t prefer the use of technology. Limiting access can be stressful and, in some cases, financially detrimental. But benefits are currently still available and accessible online, via phone and at local offices.<\/p>\n More From GOBankingRates<\/p>\n This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com<\/a>: Mark Cuban Just Exposed a Social Security Flaw That Every Senior Needs To Watch For<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Social Security is a topic of much discussion, and for good reason. As per the Social Security Administration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[72,176,61,60,42028,174,175,138247,138246,1615,1617,19903],"class_list":{"0":"post-288141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-mark-cuban","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance","15":"tag-phone-support","16":"tag-security-recipients","17":"tag-social-security","18":"tag-social-security-administration","19":"tag-social-security-benefit"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}