25 Things Baby Boomers Need To Know About Social ... - Bankruptcy

Social Security can be a tool to better benefits if used and optimized in the best way possible, according to experts.

The issue lies with the ability to know how to maximize the benefits that the government provides. Experts know much more than the average American could ever know so it?s important to know when to ask for help.

Some people have taken on their own attempts to figure out their?benefits?and have paid dearly, sometimes going in to debt to afford a lifestyle which can lead to filing for bankruptcy to get out of debt.

Forbes.com has listed 25 things that the average person collecting Social Security may not already know.

1. Suspending your benefits to a later day may allow you to collect more money later down the line.
2. If you continue to earn money after the age of 62, when delaying your benefits it could be even higher if you delay the benefits due to the cost of inflation.
3. If you are married or divorced it may be better to collect your benefits starting at age 62 rather than delaying because experts say that your spouses benefits could be collected at a later date this way.
4. If you?re married you or your spouse, but not both, can receive spousal benefits after reaching full retirement age while deferring taking your retirement benefits and that allows letting them grow.
5. If you take your retirement benefits early you will be forced to take your spouses benefits early if you begin taking benefits before your full retirement age. Experts say to be careful of this because it could be at a lower rate.
6. If you are divorced, both you and your ex can collect spousal benefits after full retirement age while still postponing taking your own retirement benefits when they are as high as can be.
7. If your primary insurance amount is less than half that of your spouse and you take your own retirement benefit early, but are able to wait until full retirement age to collect your spousal benefit, your total check, for the rest of your life, will be less than one half of your spouse?s primary insurance amount.?? Nonetheless, this may still be the best strategy.
8. There is no advantage to wait to collect on spousal benefits until after full-retirement age.
9. There is no advantage to wait to collect survivor benefits until your full retirement age.
10. Within the last year, if you decided to collect benefits and later decide it wasn?t the right move; you can repay all the benefits and reapply at a later date.
11. If you wait to collect until after full retirement age but before the age of 70, you must wait until the next January to see the credit accounted.
12. Baby boomers can significantly raise their benefits by continuing to work into their 60?s.
13. If you take retirement, spousal, or widow/widower benefits early and lose some or all of them because of Social Security?s earnings test, Social Security will actuarially increase your benefits starting at your full retirement age based on the number of months of benefits you forfeited.
14. When it comes to possibly paying federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits, withdrawals from Roth IRAs aren?t counted, but withdrawals from 401(k), 403(b), regular IRAs, and other tax-deferred accounts are.
15. Social Security?s online benefit calculators either don?t handle or don?t adequately handle spousal, divorcee, child, mother, father, widow or widower benefits, or file and suspend options.
16. The online calculators don?t take into account an economic inflation going forward.
17. Some survivors would do better taking their survivor benefits early and deferring their own benefits until a later date.
18. If you?re below full retirement age and are collecting a spousal benefit and your spouse is below full retirement age and is collecting a retirement benefit, your spousal benefit can be reduced if your spouse earns beyond the Earnings Test?s exempt amount.
19. The Windfall Elimination Provision affects how the amount of your retirement or disability benefit is calculated if you receive a pension from work where Social Security taxes were not taken out of your pay and you also worked in other jobs long enough to qualify for a Social Security retirement or disability benefit.
20. Based on the Government Pension Offset provision, if you receive a pension from a federal, state or local government based on work where you did not pay Social Security taxes, your Social Security spouse?s or widow?s or widower?s benefits may be reduced.
21. If you have children, because you started having children late or adopted young children later in life, they can collect child benefits through and including age 17 (or age 19 if they are still in secondary school) if you or your spouse or you ex spouse are collecting retirement benefits.
22. If you have children who are eligible to collect benefits because your spouse or ex spouse is collecting retirement benefits, you can collect mother or father benefits until your child reaches age 16.
23. Your children can receive survivor benefits if your spouse or ex-spouse died and they are under age 18 (or age 19 if they are still in secondary school).
24. You can collect mother or father benefits if you spouse or ex-spouse died and you have children of your spouse or your ex-spouse who are under age 16.
25. There is a maximum family benefit that applies to the total benefits to you, your spouse, and your children that can be received on your earnings record.

Source: http://www.clearbankruptcy.com/blog/25-things-baby-boomers-need-to-know-about-social-security/

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