An Uncertain Birthday for Social Security
Unhappy birthday?
The reserves used to pay the nation’s 70 million recipients is expected to be depleted by 2035, according to the agency’s trustee report released earlier this year. Benefits could be cut by 17 percent if that happens.

The author tells the history of the Freedman’s Savings Bank, how it grew much too quickly, why it failed and the impact on Black America. The Freedman’s Bank offered a safe depository for formerly enslaved people, expanded quickly and gained millions in deposits – mostly ranging from $5 to $50. But inexperience and corruption doomed it to failure, costing may of the small depositors their savings.


