There are a few resources, above and beyond the guides available at socialsecurity.gov, that I’ve located for you – to help you as you make decisions and learn about your Social Security benefits. The good folks over at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College have developed several resources that you can find at their website. Specifically, there is a guide to help you as you face the decision of when to apply, called the Social Security Claiming Guide. This electronic booklet provides you with all the background information you need – as well as answering some of the common questions that arise with this process. The other publication of note at this website is called the Social Security Fix-It book. In this guide you’ll find a review of the overall Social Security system, what’s presently wrong with it and what the future looks like, as well as several […]
July, 2010:
More Information About the Ultimate “Do-Over”
12/8/2010 update – the SSA revised the “Do Over” a bit. See the article “SSA Revises Withdrawal Policy” for details. If you don’t know about this tactic, you can read the article The Ultimate “Do Over” by clicking the link. Briefly, this tactic provides a way for you to file for your Social Security benefit and then later, after your benefit would have been potentially increased had you not filed, you can re-pay what you’ve received and start over at your new age. (Read the article at the link above, it’s explained much better there…) I didn’t tell the complete the story in that article though: there are a few items that you need to keep in mind with regard to this tactic. I’ll finish the story below. More Information Affordable Annuity. This tactic is called the Ultimate “Do Over” because it represents an extremely affordable annuity. By this I […]
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The One Downside to the File and Suspend Tactic
Note: with the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 into law, File & Suspend and Restricted Application have been effectively eliminated for anyone born in 1954 or later. If born before 1954 there are some options still available, but these are limited as well. Please see the article The Death of File & Suspend and Restricted Application for more details. Some time ago I wrote about The File And Suspend Tactic for Social Security Benefits. Briefly, this is where you file for your Social Security benefit, most often at your Full Retirement Age (FRA), and then suspend payments, so that your spouse can begin taking the Spousal Benefit based upon your FRA benefit amount. You then delay receiving your benefit until age 70, maximizing your lifetime (and potentially your spouse’s Survivorship) benefits. There is one downside to the File and Suspend tactic, though: since you have filed, any […]
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Independent’s Day
Okay, this has nothing to do with America’s celebration of independence from British rule… other than it’s a play on words and you know I can’t possibly resist. No, today’s post is about your own independence from the biases that are infused into advice you might receive from an advisor who is working for an insurance company, a brokerage, a bank, or a mutual fund company. The way you can achieve this independence is to work with an independent advisor – an advisor who operates as a fiduciary, providing advice that is solely in your own best interest. This is an important enough issue for me to direct you to other advisors’ websites – folks who technically are competitors to me – so that you can see what they have to say about this independence and the fiduciary duty of care that you, the consumer of financial services, deserve. So, […]
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on 
A Medicare Owner’s Manual, is updated with 2020 facts and figures. This manual is available on 
Social Security for the Suddenly Single can be found on Amazon at 
Sterling’s first book, Lose Weight Save Money, can be 
An IRA Owner’s Manual, 2nd Edition is available for purchase on Amazon. Click the link to choose the 
Jim’s book – A Social Security Owner’s Manual, is now available on Amazon. Click this link for the 
And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.