Six Secrets
to Maximize
Your Social
Security
Benefits
Six Secrets to Maximize Your Social
Security Benefits
Provided by: Above the Canopy
Although we can all be thankful that Social Security provides an
income for retirement, the truth is that for many people, that
benefit amount is simply not enough for the lifestyle they had in
mind when they were able to stop working.
Even with the COLAs (Cost Of Living Adjustments) that raise
benefits in keeping with the rate of inflation, you may find
yourself in a financial pinch if you rely solely on your Social
Security check.
So, you may find a few strategies and secrets for maximizing
your Social Security benefits helpful. It’s also useful to consider
supplementing your benefits with other sources of guaranteed
or non-guaranteed income.
Otherwise, you may discover that you don’t have enough extra
money to enjoy a social and financially secure life.
In fact, you may find yourself struggling to make ends meet just
to cover basic necessities. Is this the way you want to spend
your Golden Years...pinching pennies, buying your clothes from
thrift stores and bargain basements, celebrating birthdays and
anniversaries at Big Ed’s Cheap Eats Early Bird Special? Let’s
face it, that scenario doesn’t sound particularly appealing.
Read on to discover six powerful secrets to maximize your
Social Security so that your retirement can be as fun filled,
relaxing and rewarding as you always dreamed it would be!
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I. Your Patience May Be Rewarded Strategy
When it comes to deciding when to start receiving Social
Security retirement benefits, patience might be its own reward.
Why? Simply because the longer you delay drawing your
benefits, the larger the amount you’ll receive. For example, if you
file to begin receiving benefits at age 62, which is the youngest
age possible, you will get a 25% reduction in the amount you
draw each month. If you elect to wait and file at the age
specified as full retirement age according to your birth date---66
if you were born between 1943 and 1954---you will get
considerably greater benefits. Three out of four people don’t
wait until their full retirement age to start receiving benefits.
Back when Social Security was born, this wasn’t such a bad
idea, as the average life expectancy then for any race and either
gender was 61.7 years. That being the case, a lot of people
didn’t live long enough to even start getting benefits early.
Nowadays, though, the average life expectancy has increased to
78.8 years, so this puts a whole different spin on things, doesn’t
it?
Consider this: if your monthly benefit would be $2,400 at a full
retirement age of 66 and only $1,800 at age 62; you’re looking at
a difference of $600 a month, which is a pretty nice chunk of
change. Assuming you survived until the average life
expectancy age of 78, you would lose about $20,000 by filing
early. Bear in mind that if you file for Social Security early, the
deduction in your benefits will be permanent, not temporary.
You should sit down and take an objective look at your health
and probable life expectancy and then decide whether or not you
would lose or gain monetarily by delaying your Social Security
Benefits until you reach full retirement age. If you can wait,
good. If you can but just don‘t want to; this may end up being a
case of file in haste, repent at leisure.
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II The Double Dip Strategy
This is another technique for married couples to maximize Social
Security. It is often called “Double Dipping.” This strategy works
best for couples whose incomes are close to the same and are
at full retirement age. Each person files for a spousal benefit, but
delays his or her own benefits until a later date. Then, maybe at
age 70, each spouse would file for benefits based on his or her
own earning record.
By delaying to age 70, the latest age at which you can file for
Social Security benefits, each spouse would end up drawing
more money when all was said and done. It is important to note
that this strategy will also work for divorced spouses. Provided
you are single or that if remarried, you did so after you turned 60,
you can receive spousal benefits to the tune of 50% of whatever
amount your ex draws. Then, if your benefit on your own
earnings at age 70 will be more than the spousal benefit, you
can start drawing on yourself and forgo the spousal benefits.
This will net you more money long term.
III. The Higher Earner Strategy
In this strategy to maximize Social Security benefits, a married
couple takes best advantage of the spouse with the higher
earnings by having the lower earner apply for spousal benefits
as opposed to drawing on him/herself. You are entitled to either
50% of your spouse’s Social Security benefit, or your own,
whichever is higher. Again, this makes a case for delaying filing
a claim for benefits, because if your spouse retires at age 62,
you will receive only about 35% of their benefit rather than half. If
your spouse delays receiving Social Security benefits until full
retirement age, you will get 50%.
If you are a divorced spouse, you may file for spousal benefits
but the reduction in the amount would be the same if your exspouse files before his or her full retirement age. But---and this is
important, so heads up---if you are a divorced spouse and delay
filing for spousal benefits until YOU reach full retirement age, you
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will get the 50% instead of a lesser amount regardless of when
the ex filed for Social Security.
So, if you are divorced and are eligible for a divorced spouse’s
benefit, and can afford to continue working or delay filing until
your full retirement age, your benefits will be higher even if your
ex-spouse filed early.
To be eligible for divorced spouse benefits, the marriage must
have lasted for a minimum of 10 years, or you received support
from the ex for that long. You can draw whichever is higher,
spousal benefits or your own benefits, but not both.
IV. The 35-Year Strategy
If you possibly can, you need to work for at least 35 years to
maximize your Social Security benefits. This is true because
your benefit amount is based on your highest 35 years of
earnings. For every year that you had no income, you get a big
fat goose egg---zero.
If you haven’t worked or won’t be working for 35 years and have
years with no earnings, you would be well advised to keep on
working and delay filing for Social Security benefits in order to
cancel out those zeros with dollar amounts that will increase your
benefits. Not to worry, making less money those additional
working years will not cancel out any years of higher earnings.
V. Don’t Forget Dependents Strategy
A surprising number of people who file for Social Security
retirement benefits are unaware that they may be leaving money
on the table if they have dependents that could be receiving a
percentage of the benefit amount. For instance, if you have
unmarried children under the age of 18 living at home, 19 if a
full-time high school student, each dependent is entitled to 50%
of your full retirement benefit. Nor is this limited to your biological
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children. It may include a stepchild, an adopted child, a
grandchild who lives with you as a dependent or a dependent
over the age of 18 with a disability that began before the age of
22.
Many seniors find themselves starting all over again with raising
children because they have grandchildren who must come to live
with them for one reason or another. Being able to receive a
Social Security dependent benefit would certainly be a big help if
you landed in this situation.
VI. Watch Out for Taxes Strategy
While working after you begin receiving Social Security benefits
can help your pocketbook, be careful about working and earning
too much. If you are single, under age 66 (the average age full
retirement age) and earn more than $15,120 this year; you will
have your Social Security check reduced by $1 for every $2 that
exceeds that amount annually. This is based on your gross
wages, by the way.
But, take heart---once you attain age 70, you can make as much
money as you want to without it reducing your Social security
check. Plus, you don’t lose the money forever. If you file for
benefits at age 62, but keep on working and consequently lose
part of your money from Social Security, it will be refigured when
you reach full retirement age and increased accordingly to make
up for what you lost.
For 2016, if you are unmarried and get $20,000 annually in
Social Security benefits, you won’t owe any taxes on your
benefits if you earn less than $15,000. From there, though, it
gets sticky:
•If you earn between $15,000 and $24,000, every dollar of that
money means an additional $0.50 is taxable.
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•For each dollar you earn over $24,000, an additional $0.85
becomes taxable.
Obviously, this could cause quite a bit of your Social Security
benefits to be taxed. Married couples are, of course, allowed
higher combined incomes than single beneficiaries. But, you
would still need to be careful about earning too much to avoid
paying a lot in taxes on your benefits.
What if Social Security Still Isn’t Enough?
You can use these six secrets to maximize your Social Security
benefits, but it may not be enough help to provide you with the
income you want and need to follow through with the plans you
have for retirement.
So, what can you do?
It would be our recommendation to spend some time learning
about all your options for drawing both guaranteed and nonguaranteed income throughout retirement.
For the best results, you should seek the advice and assistance
of a licensed and competent financial professional to help you
formulate a solution catered to your particular needs. There are a
multitude of options that each have unique pros/cons, and it’s
easy to experience “information overload.”
Not all financial professionals are created equal, so put some
time in finding the right one. To help you gauge a financial
professional’s competence and fit, be sure to check out our 7
Step Checklist for Hiring a Financial Advisor.
CONCLUSION:
With retirement income being the #1 financial concern of many
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Americans, Social Security maximization should be embraced by
us all.
It is our sincere hope that this article puts you one step closer to
achieving your financial and lifestyle goals.
Happy Learning!
Disclaimer: Any and all material in this article is for informational
and educational purposes only, and is not intended to be
financial advice. This article is not part of, affiliated with, or
endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other
Government Agency.
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