Social Security generates billions for N.H. economy

To the editor:

AARP has more to add to Bob Sanders’s recent article, “With at least $1b in federal assistance money going to N.H., retailers, landlords are beneficiaries too” (Nov. 1-14 NHBR).

AARP’s recent Public Policy Institute study shows that Social Security not only helps families, but it is a boon to the larger economy. Social Security fuels almost $1.4 trillion of economic activity nationally — and almost $6.6 billion in New Hampshire.

Overall, each dollar in Social Security benefits generates about $2 in spending, as consumers spend the money and businesses then spend it again. In New Hampshire, this spending supports 44,000 jobs, a valuable contribution that gets little notice.

AARP’s study provides one more reason we need to have a serious national conversation about the future of Social Security. It shows that decisions made in Washington to address Social Security’s finances would have a profound impact that goes far beyond the families that get benefits and the communities they live in.

Cutbacks would hurt all of us, because they would hurt the larger economy and the local New Hampshire economy.

Let’s work to keep Social Security solvent for current and future generations. We all have a stake in the long-term viability of this important pillar of financial security.

Kelly Clark

State director, AARP New Hampshire