Close to Retirement? Get Ready to Submit Your Social Security Application Online To cut costs, and in anticipation of the 80 million baby boomers who will be applying for Social Security retirement benefits in the next 20 years, the Social Security Administration is ramping up it’s website and online services. If you haven’t been to [...]
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We all know that if we work hard and pay our taxes (including Social Security and Medicare), we will be entitled to Social Security retirement benefits eventually. But as we have stressed in previous articles, you need to determine how much you will likely get from your Social Security benefits in order to do effective [...]
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While millions of Americans rely on Social Security benefits in their retirement years, not everyone qualifies.
Here are some general guidelines regarding Social Security eligibility:
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Update: Good news for the millions of Americans who rely on Social Security – they will be getting a raise in 2012, the first time since 2009. The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that the cost of living allowance (COLA) increase for 2012 will be 3.6%. According to SSA, the average monthly benefit for retirees [...]
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As you get closer to retirement one of your top questions is probably when and how to apply for Social Security benefits. Should you submit your Social Security application at age 62 or 66? What are the steps to apply for Social Security once you’ve decided to start collecting retirement benefits? We’ll address these questions and more in the following paragraphs.
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Spouses who do not work or who have substantially lower earnings than their spouse may be able to collect Social Security benefits based on their spouse’s earnings. Below is a common question about spousal benefits.
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Most people underestimate the impact that Social Security retirement benefits will have on their retirement. They either assume it won’t be there for them, or that it won’t be enough to make a difference. The truth is that Social Security will be there for you (although I suspect it will be revised several times to [...]
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Earlier this year, retirees on Social Security saw one of the largest COLA increases they’ve seen in years – since the 1980s to be exact. Unfortunately, the Social Security COLA is expected to be zero for the next few years. If you’ve been receiving Social Security for a while, you know that your benefits are [...]
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How to Maximize Your Social Security Benefits Now that you understand a little more about how Social Security retirement benefits work, and how important this income stream can be to your retirement, here are some tips to help you get the maximum Social Security benefits you are entitled to: Maximize Your Social Security Earnings Your [...]
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As Baby Boomers are getting closer and closer to retirement, they have many questions about Social Security retirement benefits, such as… Will Social Security be there for me when it’s my time to retire? We’ve heard for years that Social Security is going broke. Millions of Americans rely on Social Security to fund all or [...]
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