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TRYING TO DECIDE
WHEN TO RETIRE?
MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION.
By Brandon P. Smith
Social Security Public Affairs Specialist
It’s
never too early to start thinking about your
retirement. When
you do, one of your first questions may be,
“When’s the best time to start receiving
retirement benefits?” There’s no one
“best age” for everyone and, ultimately, it is
your choice. You
should make an informed decision about when to apply
for benefits based on your individual and family
circumstances. With that in mind, Social
Security has published a new fact sheet to help you
make the decision that’s best for you.
When To Start Receiving Retirement Benefits is available online at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10147.html.
Things
to consider are your current cash needs, health,
family longevity, whether you plan to work after you
retire, future financial needs and obligations, and
the amount of your benefit and other income, such as
pensions and deductions from retirement funds.
Do you have investments to draw from when you
need extra money?
Will it last as long as you expect to live?
Keep
in mind that people are living longer than they used
to. About
one out of every four 65-year-olds today will live
past age 90, and one out of 10 will live past age
95. If
you decide to retire early, at 62 or any time before
your full retirement age, you’ll get your benefits
sooner — but you’ll get a reduced benefit for
the rest of your life.
Your monthly benefit will last as long as you
do. So
the reduction in monthly payment for taking early
retirement can add up to a big difference over the
life of your benefits.
Your
decision can affect your spouse and family, too.
If you die before your spouse and dependent
children, they may be eligible for survivors
benefits. But
if you took early retirement, their payments would
be based on your reduced benefit amount.
When you reach your full
retirement age, you can work and earn as much as you
want and still receive your full Social Security
benefit payment. If
you are younger than full retirement age and if your
earnings exceed certain dollar amounts, some of your
benefit payments during the year will be withheld.
On the other hand, if you put off retirement
benefits until after your full retirement age, your
amount will increase.
In fact, your benefit amount will continue to
go up until you reach age 70 or start receiving
benefits, whichever comes first.
And when thinking about Social Security, don’t
forget Medicare.
You should sign up for Medicare three months
before reaching age 65, no matter when your full
retirement age is—even if you decide to delay
retirement benefits. Otherwise,
your Medicare medical insurance, as well as
prescription drug coverage, could be delayed, and
you could be charged higher premiums.
Learn more and make an educated decision about when
to retire. Visit
the online fact sheet, When
To Start Receiving Retirement Benefits, at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10147.html
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AMERICA’S NUMBER
ONE PROTECTION PROGRAM
By Brandon P. Smith
Social Security Public Affairs Specialist
August
14 marks 73 years since President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Today, more than 164 million workers are protected by the
program. And
more than 50 million people receive retirement,
survivors or disability benefits.
One in three beneficiaries is not a retiree
but a disabled worker, the dependent family member
of a disabled worker or the survivor of a deceased
worker.
Over
the next two decades, nearly 80 million Americans
will become eligible for Social Security retirement
benefits. That
means about 10,000 are becoming eligible to apply
for benefits every day.
Social
Security has expanded and changed quite a bit since
1935. For
example, the Social Security Amendments of 1939
broadened the program to include payments to
dependents and survivors of retirees.
In 1956, Congress created the disability
program. The
Social Security Amendments of 1958 expanded the
program by including benefits for dependents of
disabled workers.
The
Social Security Amendments of 1961 permitted all
workers to elect early retirement at age 62. In 1965, the Medicare bill was signed, providing medical
protection for Social Security retirees.
Later amendments extended Medicare coverage
to Social Security disability beneficiaries.
The
most significant aspect of the Social Security
Amendments of 1972 created the Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) program.
Funded from general revenues, the SSI program
was intended to provide a supplement to people with
limited income who have attained age 65 or are blind
or disabled.
Social
Security benefits are essential to the economic
security of today's older Americans.
The annual cost-of-living adjustment ensures
that seniors will have an inflation-proof benefit
they can count on for as long as they live.
Social
Security is a compact between generations.
Today's workers are paying for the benefits
that their parents and grandparents receive.
Over the years, Social Security has become
America's number one family protection plan.
To
learn more, visit www.socialsecurity.gov
or call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778).
________________________________
CHECK OUT THE NEW
LOOK OF SOCIAL SECURITY’S HOME PAGE
By Brandon P. Smith
Social Security Public Affairs Specialist
The new look
is more welcoming and user-friendly;
it follows the standard for design principles
in the industry by reducing clutter, improving
navigation, making better use of graphics, reducing
the need to scroll down and prioritizing items on
the page.
For the
first time, people also can watch a brief video
greeting on the site delivered by one of our agency
employees.
While the
look of our home page has changed, the web addresses
have not. Favorite
sites that you and other frequent visitors have
bookmarked will not change.
ESTIMATE
YOUR FUTURE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS
By Brandon P. Smith
Social Security Public Affairs Specialist
This
month Social Security introduces a new “Retirement
Estimator” at www.socialsecurity.gov.
Getting a personalized online estimate of
your future retirement benefits is now easier than
ever before.
The
online Retirement Estimator is a convenient, secure
and quick financial planning tool that lets workers
calculate how much they might expect to receive in
Social Security benefits when they retire.
The attractive new feature of this calculator
is that it eliminates the need to manually key in
years of earnings information.
It’s so easy to use.
Visit
www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator.
To get an estimate, you’ll need to enter
your first and last name, date of birth, Social
Security number, mother’s maiden name and place of
birth. If
the information matches our records, then you can
enter an expected retirement age and future wages.
The Estimator combines this information with
the information that we have on record, including
your yearly earnings, to provide a quick and
reliable online benefit estimate.
To
protect your privacy, only the final
retirement estimates are given to you online.
The Retirement Estimator does not show your
earnings record information on which the final
benefit estimate was calculated.
And it does not reveal any personal
information, such as your address, earnings or other
information, that could lead to identity theft.
The Estimator also will let you
create “what if” scenarios.
You can, for example, change “stop work”
dates or expected future earnings to create and
compare different retirement options.
When
you visit our website at www.socialsecurity.gov
to see the new Retirement Estimator, take a few
minutes to become familiar with our many other
online services – including applying online for
Social Security retirement and disability benefits.
______________________
EIGHT
FOR 2008: FASCINATING
FACTS ABOUT SOCIAL SECURITY
By Brandon P. Smith
Social Security Public Affairs Specialist
Here
are eight interesting facts about Social Security
for 2008.
1.
In 2008, about 50 million Americans will
receive Social Security benefits — that’s
roughly TWICE the number of people who live in the
cities of Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and Dallas
combined.
2.
The nation’s first baby-boomer begins
collecting Social Security retirement benefits in
February 2008 … and over the next 20 years another
78 million baby boomers will be eligible to apply
for benefits, too. That’s an average of more than 10,000 people applying for
benefits every day!
3.
About 70 percent of private sector workers
have no long-term disability insurance — but
nearly all workers and their families have Social
Security protection in the event of a long-term
disability.
4.
The average monthly Social Security survivors’
insurance benefit for a widow or widower with two
dependent children is about $2,243 per month —
which for most workers is more than the value of
their private life insurance.
5.
More than 3 million children under age 18 get
Social Security benefits — as survivors of
deceased workers, or as the children of people
receiving retirement or disability benefits.
6.
Approximately 442 million Social Security
numbers have been issued since 1936 — but there
are approximately 1 billion possible Social Security
number combinations with the nine-digit number, so
there are plenty more to go around.
7.
Social Security offices are VERY busy.
Nearly 42 million people visit a Social
Security office each year.
Another 60 million call our nationwide
toll-free telephone service each year at
1-800-772-1213 (TTY
1-800-325-0778).
In addition, about 48 million
people visit our Internet website at www.socialsecurity.gov.
8.
By 2032, there will be almost twice as many
older Americans as today — growing from 38 million
today to 72 million.
If you find these facts interesting and would like
to know more about any aspect of the Social Security
programs, you can visit our website at www.socialsecurity.gov.
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