Retirement is one of the most significant financial goals most Americans will save for, beginning early in most workers' careers. However, the rising cost of living has been exacerbated by inflation,

Many people still misunderstand how the system works and why there isn't enough money to keep it strong for the immediate future.

Retirees are often thought to be living on fixed incomes, but most of them are collecting Social Security benefits, and those benefits are not exactly fixed -- because they're increased nearly every year via cost of living adjustments (COLAs).

Social Security is a safety net meant to replace some, but not all, of your pre-retirement income. It was founded as a way to ensure that people don't fall into poverty in retirement. However,