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social security retirement

Factors to take into account when planning Social Security filing

As with the overall process of planning for retirement income, there are certain important factors external to Social Security benefits that you need to take into account while planning when to file for benefits.  In the list below I will detail some of these factors and why they are important to the process. Important Factors When Planning Social Security Filing Pension income.  Pension income must be considered with special care when planning your Social Security filing strategy.  Often, pensions will increase in value up to a certain age of commencement and then there are no increases after that age.  Coordinating your pension with your Social Security benefits can enhance your overall income stream – since a pension is generally a guaranteed source of income for yourself and possibly your spouse. In addition, since many pensions are not indexed for inflation, meaning that there are no Cost-of-Living-Adjustments (COLAs), it probably makes […]

The Value of Your Social Security Benefits

As you consider your Social Security benefits and when you might begin to draw them, keep in mind that the benefits you’re receiving are actually akin to an annuity – a stream of income that you will receive from the time you start the benefits throughout your life.  As with an annuity, if you live longer than average, you will receive much more than the original value (premium) of the annuity.  If you have a way to increase the amount of the stream of income, by delaying start of the benefits, the overall amount that you eventually receive will increase as well (assuming you live longer than average). Let’s say that your Social Security benefit would be $1,500 at Full Retirement Age.  If you started your benefit early at age 62, your benefit would be reduced to 75% of that amount, or $1,125; if you delayed your benefit to age […]

Average Indexed Monthly Earnings Years

We’ve discussed the AIME (Average Indexed Monthly Earnings) calculation before, and it’s not like anything has changed about those calculations.  It turns out that the calculation process can be a bit confusing (shocked? I think not). The AIME is calculated using what’s known as the “base years”, which are those years between your age of 22 and 62 that occurred after 1950 (I realize most folks needing to know about this didn’t need that 1950 reference, but it’s part of the rules, so I included it).  Of those 40 years, only the 35 years with the highest earnings are used to calculate the AIME.  The earnings for each year is indexed (see the original article for details) and then the earnings are averaged. One of the questions that comes up is how years after age 62 are handled in this process.  If earnings in subsequent years are greater (after indexing) […]

“Swim With Jim” Radio Interview by Jim Ludwick

I recently had the honor of being interviewed on the radio by Mr. Jim Ludwick, a colleague that I admire and look up to a great deal.  Jim is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional, and his practice is based in Odenton, Maryland with additional offices in Washington, DC, Santa Barbara, California, San Mateo, California, and New York City.  Jim also is a fellow member of the Garrett Planning Network. In the interview we talk very briefly about some of the important factors of Social Security that baby boomers need to address as they plan for Social Security benefits. You can follow Jim’s radio program on BlogTalkRadio; his channel is Swim With Jim.   Listen to internet radio with Swim with Jim on Blog Talk Radio To hear the interview, click the “Play” button above. In the interview I mention that it can be helpful to have an advisor work with you […]

Working While Receiving Social Security

[Hank Gowdy, Dick Rudolph, Lefty Tyler, Joey Connolly, Oscar Dugey (baseball)] (LOC) (Photo credit: The Library of Congress) For many folks, starting to receive Social Security as early as possible is important – even if they’re still actively working and earning a living. Something happens when you do this though: depending on how much you’re earning, you will be giving up a portion of the Social Security benefit that you would otherwise receive.  Up to the year that you will reach Full Retirement Age, for every two dollars that you earn over the annual limit ($14,640 for 2012, or $1,220 per month), your Social Security benefit will be reduced by one dollar. Then in the year you will reach Full Retirement Age (FRA) there is a different income limit – actually $3,240 per month.  For every three dollars over that limit, your Social Security benefit will be reduced by one […]

The Mystery of Social Security

Social Security has become a significant part of many retirees’ sustenance, ever since it was first introduced back in the 1930’s. As the traditional pension plan goes the way of the buggy-whip and common investor behavior leads to poor results in savings plans (if there are any savings at all!), the Social Security benefit becomes more and more important. Unfortunately, the way Social Security works is a mystery for most folks. There’s really not much in the way of guidance for using the system, and relying solely on the phone representatives from the Social Security Administration is bound to lead you to a less-than-optimal result. As with most financial activities, it pays to learn as much as you can about your options, possible strategies, and the pluses and minuses of various choices that you make. A Social Security Owner’s Manual is an attempt at providing you with the groundwork to […]

Age Adjustments for Social Security

Image via Wikipedia With all the talk about how Social Security is running out of money (or will be), one of the topics that often comes up is the age limits for benefits.  As you’re aware, the Full Retirement Age (FRA) has been adjusted upward from the original age 65, gradually to age 67 for folks who were born in 1960 or later.  This upward adjustment was put into place with the 1983 amendments, ostensibly to reduce impact on the system. With that adjustment in place, and the resulting benefit that the system has received from making that change, you might wonder why some of the other age limits have not been changed.  Specifically, why has the early retirement age remained at 62, and the upper limit (maximum benefit age) has also remained set at 70? I don’t have any definitive information to back this up, but I think there […]