New insight into The Villages’ growth emerged from statistics the Social Security Administration just released. Around 3,000 residents in The Villages metropolitan statistical area enrolled in the federal entitlement program during 2016, a year-over-year increase of around 4.6 percent, the agency reported. Those new enrollees accounted for almost $5.9 million in additional retirement dollars flowing each month into The Villages MSA, the data showed. In total, 67,785 residents account for about $1.2 billion per year in Social Security dollars being spent or saved within the MSA, which includes all of Sumter County but not The Villages in Lake or Marion counties. Social Security dollars play a significant role not only in The Villages economy but throughout the state, said Stanley Geberer, a Florida markets expert in the Orlando office of Fishkind & Associates, one of the state’s most prominent economic consulting firms.

Source: Daily Sun October 10, 2017 19:18 UTC