Todd Campbell, The Motley Fool 8:01 a.m. EDT April 3, 2016 The average retired worker receives a monthly Social Security benefit of $1,341 this year.(Photo: Getty Images)The Social Security program provides a critical safety net for 59 million Americans, but that doesn't mean that everyone knows all there is to know about it. For example, did you know that the latest number-crunching in Washington indicates that Social Security payments could be cut by 29% in 2030? Read on to find out more about how this vital program works and how changes to it may affect you in the future.No. 1: It's not a savings accountYes, you made significant contributions in the form of payroll taxes to Social Security when you were working, but those taxes were used to pay your parents' Social Security income. Unlike employer-sponsored retirement plans and IRAs, Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system, and that means that the benefits you receive today are being paid for by taxes on current workers, not taxes you paid in the past.No. 2: Running on fumesRevenue that's collected from current workers via the 12.4% payroll tax has fallen shy of the amount needed to pay Social Security outlays since 2010. The shortfall is being made up for with money that's coming out of the Social Security Trust Fund. However, the Congressional Budget Office reports that the Trust Fund will run out of money in 2029. If so, then an across-the-board 29% cut in benefits could be on tap in 2030.No. 3: Averages can deceiveThe Social Security Administration reports that the average retired worker receives a monthly Social Security benefit of $1,341 this year. But, as you see in the following chart, the amount of money that recipients receive for Social Security varies widely. Typically, retirees pocket a monthly benefit that ranges…

A voter casts his a ballot in Georgia's primary election at a polling site Tuesday, March 1, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)(Photo: David Goldman, AP)The presidential election is eight months away but “political risk” is already being felt on Wall Street, as money and politics collide in a flurry of often “polarizing and populist” campaign sound bites that investors fear could weigh on the economy, financial markets and global trade.“Is political risk on the rise? Yes," says Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott: “The polarizing, populist rhetoric pointing at select industries, trade and tax policy is an influencing factor in the market’s volatility.”Wall Street loves certainty. But the 2016 race for the White House is all about uncertainty with no shortage of unknowns and potential plot twists.Indeed, handicapping this year's circus-like presidential race and its impact on markets has become increasingly difficult.One wildcard is Donald Trump, the real estate investor best known for his stint on the reality TV show, The Apprentice, who has climbed to the top spot in the Republican race despite wobbly support from his own party and withering criticism Thursday from 2012 GOP candidate Mitt Romney.Trump’s rise “magnifies the uncertainty,” Luschini says, due in large part to Trump’s anti-establishment, unpredictable, “unconventional … and unscripted” campaign.While Trump’s plan to lower tax rates for individuals, investors and corporations is viewed as growth-friendly, many of Trump’s other campaign comments are "protectionist" in nature, which worries free trade advocates, Wall Street pros say. Trump says he will build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico to impede illegal immigration. He branded China a “currency manipulator." And he's issued unkind words about U.S. companies that set up shop overseas to reduce their tax bills or gain other competitive advantages.“He’s perceived as a populist and nationalist who…

The sun sets over the Manhattan skyline August 14, 2003 during a major power outage affecting a large part of the north eastern United States and Canada.(Photo: Robert Giroux, Getty Images)Here's a dismal and dark reality to 2016: It's not looking so hot.There are 15 stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500, almost entirely energy companies like Devon Energy (DVN), Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) and ConocoPhillips (COP), where analysts have downgraded by 100% or more what they expect the companies to earn on an adjusted basis for calendar 2016, according to USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. These massive all cuts in estimates have been made just over the past month as analysts have processed fourth-quarter earnings reports from the two-thirds of S&P 500 that have reported.It's not just energy companies seeing profit forecasts for the year get cut - and fast. Analysts are now calling for Standard & Poor's 500 profits to rise just 3.1% this year, down dramatically from the 7.4% they expected at the start of the year and 10.2% they predicted on Oct. 1, 2015, says S&P Global Market Intelligence. This isn't just an energy problem. Earnings expectations for 2016 have been cut for 69% of the companies in the S&P 500. Analysts have taken down estimates by 20% on average for all the stocks in the S&P 500. Estimates are also being cut on a bevy of non-energy companies like burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), biotech Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) and online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN). 2016 expected profits are plunging (Photo: S&P Global Market Intelligence via Microsoft Excel)Viciously downgraded expectations for profit in 2016 is a big reason for the market's recent troubles. The Standard & Poor's 500 is now down 13% from its highest point over the past 12…