For 2017, the maximum
monthly Social Security retirement benefit for a worker retiring at the full retirement age of 66 years is $ 2,687.
Let's assume you and your spouse will each receive the average
monthly Social Security retirement benefit of $ 1,294 (as of May 2014).
If you have an estimate of
your monthly Social Security retirement benefit (in future, inflated dollars), you can use the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), Ballpark E$ timate Online, to get a basic idea of how much you need to save before you retire.
Many people mistakenly assume
their monthly Social Security retirement benefits will be the same no matter what age they retire.
Not exact matches
While you can choose to receive your
Social Security benefits before your full
retirement age (as defined by Uncle Sam), doing so results in lower
monthly payments and possibly more reliance on your savings.
For these people, their sole
retirement income, aside from potential aid from friends and family, comes from
Social Security, for which the current average
monthly benefit is $ 1,230.
The survey of 903 adults aged 50 or older, who are either already retired or plan to retire in the next ten years, revealed those who began receiving
Social Security income early report a lower average
monthly payment ($ 1,190) than those who started at their full
retirement age ($ 1,506) and those who delayed
benefits until age 70 ($ 1,924).
Also in regard to
Social Security retirement benefits, it's important to understand that
monthly benefits differ substantially based on when you start receiving them and the filing option you choose.
As the site shows, if you start taking your
Social Security payments before you hit your full
retirement age, your
monthly benefit will be lower.
While retiring early reduces your
monthly Social Security benefits, working past your full
retirement age actually increases them.
The
Social Security Administration says that if you delay receiving your
Social Security benefits until you hit 70, your
monthly payment will be 32 percent higher than if you had retired at full
retirement age.
Taking
Social Security benefits before your full
retirement age will cost you in the form of a lower
monthly payout.
Our Humble Opinion:
Social Security is such a wonderful source of
retirement income that most folks should delay
benefits, so they get a larger
monthly check.
If
Social Security withholds some of your
benefits because you continue to work, they will pay you a higher
monthly benefit amount when you reach your full
retirement age.
Just remember: If you work and collect
Social Security benefits when you are below full
retirement age, your
monthly benefit could be reduced if your earnings exceed certain thresholds (although if it is,
Social Security effectively restores those withheld payments by increasing your
benefit when you reach full
retirement age.)
For example, some couples may decide to claim one spouse's
Social Security benefits at normal
retirement age, while delaying the other spouse's
benefits until age 70 to allow the second
monthly payment to grow.
That is, the so - called increase in the
Social Security monthly benefit if you delay taking
benefits beyond your normal
retirement age is at least in part due to the fact that a «fixed pot of money» is being divided into larger chunks at age 70 (fewer months to live) than at age 67 (more months to live).
While
retirement does make you eligible for low - cost medical coverage through Medicare and
monthly benefit checks from
Social Security, they most likely won't be enough to give you the comfortable
retirement of your dreams.
$ 2,687: The overall maximum
monthly Social Security benefit for those retiring at their full
retirement age in 2017 is still just $ 2,687, or roughly $ 32,000 for the whole year.
If you are below your full
retirement age and receiving a
monthly Social Security check your
benefit is subject to the
Social Security Earnings Test.
If, for example, after toting up your
retirement living expenses (which you can do by going to BlackRock's
Retirement Expense Worksheet), you see that your
monthly Social Security benefit covers all or nearly all of your essential living expenses, then you may have all the guaranteed income you need.
Forty - five million retired workers and their dependents receive
Social Security retirement benefits as of June 2017, with an average
monthly benefit of $ 1,369.
Retiring later also provides the opportunity to get a larger
monthly Social Security benefit, because each year a person delays claiming
benefits past full
retirement age (age 66 for people born between 1943 and 1959; age 67 for people born after) increases the
monthly payment by about 8 %.
The earliest you can start collecting
Social Security retirement benefits is 62, but your
monthly amount will be permanently reduced.
If you are in good health and anticipate living a long
retirement, it may be advantageous to delay
Social Security payments as long as possible so you can enjoy larger
monthly benefit checks over time.
If you are within three months of age 65 or older and not ready to start your
monthly Social Security benefits yet, you can use our online
retirement application to sign up just for Medicare and wait to apply for your
retirement or spouses
benefits later.
Social Security is a great
retirement benefit, but it's possible your clients may be counting on that
monthly check a little too much — at the expense of getting serious about building adequate
retirement investments.
You simply plug in the current balances of your various
retirement accounts, your estimated
monthly spending, how your savings are divvied up between stocks, bonds and cash, your
Social Security benefit — and the calculator employs Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the probability that income from
Social Security plus withdrawals from your nest egg will be able to generate enough income for you to maintain your expected spending for the rest of your life.
I understand that delaying taking
social security from full
retirement age (67, based on my birth year) until age 70 results in a 24 % increase in the
monthly benefit, or 8 % per year.
Even though your
monthly check will be reduced, there are ways early
retirement can boost
Social Security benefits.
Despite higher
monthly benefits for those who delay, many people still claim
Social Security retirement benefits at age 62, the earliest age of eligibility.
One of the key components that the
Social Security Administration uses to calculate your
Social Security retirement benefit is called the Average Indexed
Monthly Earnings, or AIME (don't you just love the acronym - loving
Social Security Administration?
If Frank retires at his full
retirement age of 66, his
monthly Social Security benefit would be $ 2,000 a month.
Social Security benefits can begin at 62, but waiting until full
retirement age of 65 or 66 (depending on your birthday) will increase the size of your
monthly check.
After you reach full
retirement age,
Social Security hikes
monthly payouts by 8 % for each year you hold off on claiming
benefits up to age 70.
• You can specify ages that both client and spouse start to collect
Social Security retirement benefits separately, and at any year (not just 65 to 72), how much both receive in
monthly Social Security benefits, and their annual inflation rates (COLA), separately too.
If you start taking
Social Security at 62, rather than waiting until your full
retirement age (FRA), you will receive reduced
monthly benefits.
That's because the prospect of a comfortable
retirement based largely on
Social Security benefits or
monthly pension payments is less certain than at any time since the Great Depression.
Social security provides a lifetime
retirement benefit in the form of a
monthly check that's adjusted each year for inflation, to individuals who meet three requirements:
GAO Report: Challenges For Those Claiming
Social Security Benefits Early This report of the U.S. Government Accountability Office looks at the circumstances of people who file for Social Security benefits early to understand why they do so even though taking benefits before full retirement age reduces monthly p
Benefits Early This report of the U.S. Government Accountability Office looks at the circumstances of people who file for
Social Security benefits early to understand why they do so even though taking benefits before full retirement age reduces monthly p
benefits early to understand why they do so even though taking
benefits before full retirement age reduces monthly p
benefits before full
retirement age reduces
monthly payments.
It may also be a time where you're relying on your
retirement savings and / or
Social Security benefits to meet your
monthly expenses.
Another reason older Americans might not bother is that
monthly retirement income from the
Social Security Administration results in lower nutrition assistance
benefits, since
monthly benefit amounts are based on a person's income and expenses.