Fox News’ recent article entitled “These mistakes will take a huge bite out of your Social Security income” shares what we should and shouldn’t do.
- Not working a full 35 years. Your Social Security benefits are calculated based on your wages during your 35 highest-paid years of work. However, for each year you don’t have an income on record, you’ll have a $0 factored into your personal equation. That’s going to mean a lower monthly benefit. Therefore, to avoid this, be sure you put in a full 35 years in the workforce. It may actually help boost your benefit, by avoiding those dreaded $0 years. It will also potentially factor higher wages into your calculation.
Many people earn more money later in their careers. If your earnings are now at their highest, and you work another year to make it a full 35, you may be adding a salary that’s far more than what you earned 30 years before (even though your previous wages will be adjusted for inflation when determining what monthly benefit you get).
- Not delaying until your full retirement age to file. You won’t be entitled to collect all of your benefits until you reach full retirement age (FRA). Your FRA will depend on your year of birth, and if you were born in 1960 or later, it’s 67. Born in 1959 or before? It’s 66, or 66 and a number of months.
You can file for Social Security as early as age 62, but for each month you sign up prior to your FRA, your benefits are reduced on a permanent basis. That’s bad news if you don’t have a lot of money in retirement savings and need those benefits to ensure that you’re able to make ends meet in retirement.
- Delaying benefits beyond age 70. Just as you get the option to sign up for Social Security before FRA, you can also delay benefits past FRA and boost them by 8% a year in the process. But don’t postpone your filing too long! When you hit age 70, you stop accruing the delayed retirement credits that increase your benefits. Therefore, delaying beyond that point could mean missing out on income.
- Retire in a state that taxes your benefits. Social Security benefits may be taxed on the federal level, if your earnings exceed a certain threshold. However, some states also tax Social Security. These 13 states tax benefits to some degree: CO, CT. KS, MN, MO, MT, NE, NM, ND, RI, UT, VT, and WV. Some states have lower earner exemptions.
Don’t slash your Social Security income and struggle in retirement because of these mistakes. You can find more information on elder law planning on our Elder Law page.
Avoid these mistakes to be certain that you get as much money from Social Security as you’re entitled.
Reference: Fox News (Sep. 14, 2020) “These mistakes will take a huge bite out of your Social Security income’
