Don’t Get Tripped up By These 5 Social Security Issues
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
April 8, 2019 — Your Social Security benefit is one of the pillars of your retirement. To make the most of it you need to make smart choices on how and when you take it. Make a wrong move based on misinformation or lack of knowledge, and it could cost you and your spouse tens of thousands of dollars in the years ahead. This article will go over a few of the areas that seem to trip up the most people. To help answer these questions we used information from the very helpful SSA.gov website. Use these examples to help inform your own decisions, along with your own careful research.
Choices…and Decisions
It is up to you to apply for Social Security retirement benefits. If you don’t apply, you won’t get them. You have your first option to start receiving retirement benefits when you turn 62. Taking them then gives you the smallest monthly payment, but it is money in your bank account now. You can apply at any time from age 62 on, but your monthly benefit will go up for every month you wait to claim (benefits are capped at age 70).
Comments on "Don’t Get Tripped up By These 5 Social Security Issues"
Raymond Adkins says:
My wife is civil service retired and draws no SS. She is 62, is she eligible under mine SS?the spouse's benefits?
Thank you
Admin says:
Raymond: Your situation is a little more complicated than most people's. You can start with this SSA page on "Government Pension Offset", but you might also want to talk with the folks at your local Social Security office. If your wife is getting a government pension and she did not pay into Social Security some adjustments will be made. See https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/gpo.html