Social Security has a solvency problem.  But it also has a much bigger retirement design problem.

Most people are aware that Social Security is projected to pay only about 74% of scheduled benefits by 2034, unless changes are made. That matters. However, focusing solely on solvency overlooks a deeper issue that will significantly impact retirement outcomes for millions of Americans.

Social Security was designed around a two-adult household. Today’s retirement reality is not.

Fewer Americans are marrying, and more are entering retirement solo.

That demographic shift exposes a fundamental mismatch between how Social Security was designed — and how retirement actually looks today.

Here’s why that matters.

Married retirees benefit from built-in structural advantages

Social Security includes features that, in practice, strengthen retirement outcomes for couples:

• Spousal benefits — up to 50% of a higher-earning spouse’s benefit

• Survivor benefits — a surviving spouse can receive up to 100% of a deceased spouse’s benefit

• Staggered claiming strategies — couples can coordinate timing to maximize lifetime income

• Dual incomes — two workers generally mean two Social Security records supporting retirement

These features are not accidental. They are embedded in the system’s design.

Single retirees receive none of this

If you are navigating retirement alone — particularly if you never married — you do not have access to any of these structural advantages.

You have:

• Your own work record

• Your own claiming decision

• Your own longevity risk

• Your own outcome

That’s it.

The issue isn’t just that single retirees often receive less income from Social Security. It’s that they operate with less margin for error, less flexibility, and no built-in redundancy.

In other words, Social Security may function as a floor — but for single retirees, it is rarely a system of resilience.

If we want Social Security — and retirement planning more broadly — to reflect modern reality rather than outdated assumptions, we first have to acknowledge this foundational mismatch.

(I’m working on a book that explores how retirement planning and retirement systems need to adapt as solo retirement becomes the norm — not the exception.)