Fighting for Social Security

For Marlene Batterberry of West Fargo, her monthly Social Security check is an important piece of her retirement income. Batterberry, an 86-year-old retired nurse, considers herself fortunate to also have a pension from her working years and her late husband’s retirement benefits to count on.

But Batterberry, an AARP volunteer who gives presentations on Social Security, knows that for some North Dakotans, it’s their only source of income — making it vital to ensure the program is adequately funded.

To aid those efforts, AARP state offices in North Dakota and Minnesota are teaming up to host a public forum in August on Social Security’s financial future.

The program’s trust fund reserves are dwindling, and by 2035, it may not have enough money to fully cover benefits, according to 2024 projections by the Social Security Board of Trustees. More than 143,000 North Dakotans and 1.1 million Minnesotans received Social Security benefits in 2022, federal data shows.

The event will be held in the Fargo-Moorhead area on Tuesday, Aug. 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will bring together elected officials to discuss possible solutions to protect the program.

“We’ll be digging into the economic impact that Social Security has on our communities and our states,” says Josh Askvig, AARP North Dakota state director.

In the evening, a “decades dinner” will invite residents of both states to talk about “what Social Security means, what the future is, what it looks like for their generation,” Askvig says.

In North Dakota, more than 50 percent of residents 65 and older live in families that rely on the program for at least half of their income, AARP research shows.

To register for the forum, go to aarp.org/NDevents.

—David Lewellen