My client, who I’ll call Sarah, recently lost her husband, Alan, prematurely at his age of 62. Fortunately, Alan and Sarah had saved diligently for retirement and Alan also had several life insurance policies in place on his life. Sarah and I met recently to review the best way for her to take her Social Security option, since she had retired a few months earlier. … [Read more...]
Watch out! The Windfall Elimination Provision impacts your spouse too
If you ever worked for a company or organization outside of the Social Security pension system, you may have earned a non-covered pension that may impact the amount of your monthly Social Security benefit. This is called the Windfall Elimination Provision. You can refer to this article for more information about how it's calculated and how it impacts the worker’s Social Security benefit. … [Read more...]
Why You Shouldn’t Use “Break Even” Analysis For When to Claim Social Security
One of the most common questions people approaching retirement age have is “When should I claim my Social Security retirement benefits?”. In fact a new client recently asked me “No one in my family has lived past 80, so shouldn’t I claim my Social Security early in order to make sure I actually get to use it?” The timing of that decision can have an enormous impact on your financial situation in retirement, and I find that some of the advice given to people doesn’t show the full picture. When … [Read more...]
Calculating Your Windfall Elimination Deduction From Your Benefit
If you’ve ever worked for an employer who doesn’t withhold Social Security taxes from your salary, you need to consider the Windfall Elimination Provision when determining how much you’ll earn each month from your Social Security retirement benefit. The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) can affect how the Social Security Administration (SSA) calculates your retirement or disability benefit. If you work for an employer who doesn’t withhold Social Security taxes from your salary, such as a … [Read more...]
Case Study – How a Social Security class participant is getting an additional $60,000+
Many people don’t realize that they are eligible for Social Security divorced spouse benefits so they never end up applying for them. That was the case for a recent participant in my Maximizing Social Security class. After the class, he went through the process of getting his divorced spouse benefits and laid out his experience for you to learn from below. … [Read more...]
