I learned about Jim Uren’s webinar, How to Get More Out of Social Security: Discover how Savvy Single Women are Collecting Thousands More in Retirement, on Facebook and decided I’d click on and see what I could learn. It turned out that he has some really good tidbits.
First, what are social security benefits?
You pay into social security every two weeks. The government takes it out along with taxes. That means that social security benefits are something you’ve paid into and something is owed to you in retirement. You’re eligible to receive benefits once you turn 62 but to get full retirement benefits you’ll have to wait until you’re 67 years old. The Social Security Administration sends out a physical booklet telling you how much your expected benefits are to-date every five years. If you want to know now, you can create an online account at SSA.gov. If you choose to create an online account, the Social Security Administration will no longer send you a physical booklet.
Anyhoo, back to the Jim Uren webinar. I learned:
- Women lose about $80,000 due to decisions made about when to take benefits and how to take those benefits.
- A person needs to have 10 years (40 quarterly credits) to receive social security.
- You can start taking social security at 62, but there will be a penalty every year until you reach ACTUAL retirement age, currently 67 years old. If you start at 62 the penalty could be as high as 30% of your benefit.
- If you wait to take your benefit, you’ll get a percentage bonus every year you wait, until 70 years old. If you wait until 70 you’ll earn a 24% bonus.
- You can switch from your benefits to your deceased partner’s benefits, or vice versa.
- You have 12 months to make any changes, after that everything in set in stone.
There are intricacies to every filing and so many things to consider, but the webinar gave me some new ideas to think about. In case you’d like to speak to the man, himself contact Jim Uren at Phase 3 Advisory.
Bigger Than Your Block 