If you've ever read up
on Social Security retirement benefits, you've likely come across a number called the Primary Insurance Amount, or PIA.
Calculating the taxes you owe
on your Social Security retirement benefits is also explained in the instruction booklet accompanying your Form 1040 federal tax return.
The longer you wait to draw
on your Social Security retirement benefits, the higher your benefit will be.
This, along with the low cost of living in South Carolina, means it is possible for some seniors in the Palmetto State to survive
on Social Security retirement benefits alone.
The only comprehensive retirement training organization in the financial services industry focused exclusively on educating professionals on the nuances of Social Security retirement planning, the organization creates and provides a training course
on Social Security retirement benefits and claiming strategies and provides advisors with the opportunity, for those inclined to do so, to sit for a comprehensive exam that if completed successfully will provide them with the Certified in Social Security Claiming Strategies designation.
In a new CNBC series on which I'll be a regular contributor, I offered some «Straight Talk»
on Social Security retirement benefit strategies that, while simple, are all too often missed.
So it's best not to use or rely
on any Social Security retirement benefit predictions from any source other than «the horse's mouth.»
Not exact matches
Possible reforms could include raising the full
retirement age for
Social Security to 70 for workers who are currently under age 40; cutting
benefits; increasing payroll taxes
on workers; increasing Medicare premiums; and making
Social Security benefits more progressive — meaning cutting
benefits for high - income workers, while preserving payouts for low - income earners.
You also need to consider the effects that early
retirement can have
on your
Social Security benefits.
If you will not have enough money in either a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA to support you upon
retirement and you're perhaps looking to
Social Security to give you that boost, it's possible that you may have to pay taxes
on some of your
benefits.
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.
You may not want to work in
retirement, but taking
on a part - time job the first few years so you can delay claiming
Social Security benefits could significantly boost the
benefit you receive.
When you start receiving
Social Security retirement benefits, some members of your family may also qualify to receive
benefits on your record.
CAP also determines
Social Security benefits based
on projected wages across the worker's career and includes the difference in
Social Security earnings in the
retirement calculation for 15 years after
retirement.
How much risk you can afford to take with your investment portfolio during
retirement, or when approaching it, depends
on your cash flow from available income streams — such as pensions,
Social Security benefits or annuities — and doing a thorough cash - flow analysis is paramount.
Steve Garfink, author of Retire in Luxury
on Your
Social Security, will talk about what, specifically, you can do to ensure you're positioned to claim the maximum
retirement benefit due to you.
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.
I plan
on taking
Social Security at 66, because that will be full
retirement age for me, and my wife will receive 50 % of my
benefit when I claim it (the max she can get).
Withdrawals from tax - deferred accounts are taxable income, and can trigger a huge hit
on your
Social Security Income, and finally (d) income management for ancillary
benefits in
retirement such as various localities» property tax abatements for seniors of sufficiently low income.
thanks, and yes, a pittance of a pension and regular checkups keep us
on budget and head off any problems — best decision i ever made (financial or otherwise) was serving our country doing search - and - rescue, oil and chemical spill remediation, etc. (you can guess the branch of service)-- along the way, frugal living, along with dollar - cost averaging, asset allocation, and diversification allowed us to retire early — Vanguard has been very good over the years, despite the Dot Bomb, 2002, and the recession (where we actually came out better with a modest but bargain
retirement home purchase)... it's not easy building additional «legs»
on a
retirement platform, but now that we're here, cash, real estate, investments and insurance products, along with a small pension all help to avoid any real dependence
on social security (we won't even need it at full
retirement age)-- however, like nearly everybody, we're headed for Medicare in several years, albeit with a nice supplemental and pharmacy
benefits — but our main concern is staying fit, active, and healthy!
Taxes
on Social Security benefits take a further bite out of
retirement budgets.
If you plan
on taking
Social Security benefits before you reach your full
retirement age — which is currently as old as 67 if you were born in 1960 or later — your
benefits might be reduced even if you only work part - time.
Many Americans have no personal
retirement savings and intend to live
on their
Social Security benefits — and little else — when they stop working.
You can begin collecting
Social Security at 62, but if you start taking your
benefits before reaching your full
retirement age — 65 to 67, depending
on when you were born — your
benefits will be reduced.
The earnings test does not apply to this group — that is, seniors who have reached full
retirement age can earn as much as possible with no effect
on their
Social Security benefits.
According to Financial Engines research, seven out of ten current retirees say
Social Security benefits are a major source of their
retirement income, while the
Social Security Administration says about one in four married couples — and nearly half of unmarried individuals — rely
on Social Security for 90 % or more of their income.
Around 2005, as John and Sue Smythe of Everett, Wash., approached
retirement age, they assessed their finances and decided a couple of things:
Social Security benefits wouldn't be enough to sustain them; and they wanted a consistent source of recurring revenue they could depend
on and plan for.
According to a 2011 Pew Research Center poll, more than 40 percent of people aged 18 to 30 believe they will receive no
retirement income from
Social Security, even though
Social Security receipts are estimated to equal about 75 percent of
benefits on a sustainable basis under the current regime.5
Even if your
retirement is years away, it's a good idea to periodically check in
on your
Social Security benefits.
As a general rule, survivors
benefits based
on age will be about the same total
Social Security benefits over a lifetime, whether they start early or at full survivors
retirement age.
Anyone who pays into
Social Security for at least 40 calendar quarters (10 years) is eligible for
retirement benefits based
on their earnings record.
By delaying
Social Security benefits, and dipping into your
retirement portfolio early
on, you can help to ensure the longevity of your funds along with a proper standard of living so you can enjoy the
retirement you deserve.
If you collect a reduced
benefit before your normal
retirement age,
Social Security will automatically give you the largest
benefit available to you, whether it's based
on your own work record, your spouse's record or a combination of the two.
Steve Garfink, author of Retire in Luxury
on Your
Social Security, will be
on hand to talk about what, specifically, you can do to ensure you're positioned to claim the maximum
retirement benefit due to you.
Well, it will depend
on your earnings history, just like
Social Security retirement benefits depend
on them.
Social Security represents a substantial share of income for the bottom quintile but is less important for higher - earners — reflecting the progressive nature of the
benefit formula and the fact that higher - earners have many other sources of income — whereas private
retirement income is less important at the low end but is more important for middle and upper - income groups (those at the very top mostly rely
on investment or business income).
People want to insure their future and they know that if they are depending
on Social Security benefits, and in some cases
retirement plans; that they may be in for a rude awakening when they no longer have the ability to earn a steady income.
The best age for
Social Security benefits depends
on personal and financial factors, like your current cash needs,
retirement plans, health and family history.
On the other hand, if your husband delays receipt of
benefits until age 70, he earns delayed
retirement credits and he locks in a
benefit that is 32 % higher than the amount he receives at full
retirement age (age 66) and 76 % higher than the
benefit he would have received had he started taking
benefits at age 62 (Source:
Social Security Administration).
The problem with having student loan debt in
retirement is that your
Social Security benefits can take a hit if you default
on what you owe.
If you end up getting divorced during your lifetime, you are eligible to receive
Social Security retirement benefits based
on your ex-spouse's earnings history, said David Freitag, a financial planning consultant with MassMutual.
If you receive a pension or
retirement benefit from work in another country, it may have an effect
on your
Social Security benefits under the Windfall Elimination Provision.
Found buried
on the 150th page of the 214 page, $ 3.9 trillion budget, was this key sentence: «In addition, the budget proposes to eliminate aggressive
Social Security - claiming strategies, which allow upper - income beneficiaries to manipulate the timing of collection of
Social Security benefits in order to maximize delayed
retirement credits.»
Once Cheryl learned nearly 10,000 baby boomers were retiring each and every day — all of whom could
benefit greatly by working with advisors that possessed the expertise necessary to help them make the best possible decision about when and how to file for
Social Security retirement benefits, she embarked
on the course to create that which was to become CSSCS.
Upon returning to the workforce, Cheryl took the steps necessary to become a licensed financial services professional and quickly realized the vast majority of current and prospective retirees did not have access to the advice and resources required to make an educated decision
on, what in most cases, will prove to be one of the most critical financial decisions they'll ever make; when and how to claim
Social Security retirement benefits.
In 2013, the Corporation for
Social Security Claiming Strategies was formed and one year later, A Comprehensive Guide to
Social Security Retirement Benefits and
Social Security Claiming Strategies was launched endeavoring to provide advisors with the knowledge necessary to advise clients
on the intricacies of the
Social Security system and teach them to utilize that information as the foundation for
retirement income plans sustainable throughout their client's lifetime and beyond.
Of workers 56 - 61 years old, 39 percent have no employer - sponsored
retirement plan whatsoever and will likely depend entirely
on Social Security, which pays an average
benefit of $ 1,239 per month.
For the higher - income $ 100,000 per year spenders who rely
on portfolio withdrawals for a bigger portion of their
retirement, these distributions would also decrease in nominal terms over these two decades, assuming
Social Security benefits were $ 40,000 with 2 percent inflation.
Reforms such as higher taxes, lower
benefits and delayed
retirement are designed to put
Social Security on a firm financial footing, so that the sheer passage of time does not force future payees and retirees into a crisis that would severely hurt both groups.
However, an expectation does not by itself create an adequate financial base for
retirement, especially when the expectation is based — as it is in the U.S. —
on substantial
Social Security benefits.