Dear Rusty: Politicians are talking about taking money from Social Security, but I need that money to support my daughter and pay for my home. I’m a widow, and my husband passed in 2017. I’ll lose my home if my Social Security benefits are cut. Please help. Signed: Widowed Senior Dear Widowed Senior: Despite what you might read or hear in the media, the main threat for you to lose any of your Social Security money is if Social Security is not reformed. In that case, everyone who receives benefits will see a cut of about 23% to their monthly benefit starting in about 2034. The way to avoid that is by updating the current Social Security law to address two primary issues: 1. People now live much longer than when Social Security was enacted in 1935 and when the last major program change occurred in 1983. Average life expectancy of beneficiaries today is mid-80s, compared to mid-60s when the program started. In other words, people now collect benefits for much longer (often decades longer) than the program is designed to support.