Archives

Did You Know, Did You Know, Did You Know?

January 10th, 2017 (No Comments)

Roy and I read probably 10 news articles a day and listen to several webinars a week to keep up to date with news in the Social Security world. Social Security laws are very complicated and we owe it to our readers to keep up to date. We would like to caution you about the […]

Can I Ever Get the Maximum Benefit from Social Security?

January 6th, 2017 (No Comments)

Did you know that 61% of Social Security retirement benefit recipients receive at least half of their income from Social Security? And, 33% of beneficiaries rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income. With that being said, how can I get the most from my Social Security benefit? In 2017, the maximum […]

2016 Year-End Housekeeping for Social Security

December 30th, 2016 (No Comments)

As we wind up 2016, there are several items you might want to look at with regard to Social Security: Check for errors in your Social Security statements – in 2016 the SSA processed 92,000 complaints about mistakes found in Social Security statements. Officially, you have to correct errors within 3 years, 3 months and […]

Retirement Benefits and Disability Benefits

December 20th, 2016 (No Comments)

What exactly are disability benefits? Disability benefits are paid to people who cannot work because they have a medical condition that is expected to last at least one year or result in death. There are two earnings tests before qualifying: a recent work test, based on the your age at the time you became disabled, […]

WOMEN Need to PAY ATTENTION

November 28th, 2016 (No Comments)

Women currently represent more than half of all Social Security beneficiaries age 62 and older and two-thirds of all beneficiaries over the age of 85. Because women usually live longer, and because they are more likely to live alone due to widowhood or divorce, they need to pay special attention to the rules and regulations […]

HOT OFF THE PRESS

November 20th, 2016 (No Comments)

Some good news to share about Social Security and Medicare: Earnings Limitations in 2017 will increase from $15,720 to $16,920 annually or $1410 per month. In the year you turn Full Retirement Age, Earnings Limitations increase from $41,880 to $44,880 or $3740 per month. The maximum SS benefit in 2017 rises to $2687. Medicare will […]

66/70 Strategy – Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t

November 13th, 2016 (No Comments)

Should you always wait until 70 to claim your Social Security benefit? The answer to that is a resounding NO. For those that fall into the age range of 62 (as of December 31, 2015) to 70, have other options available that can greatly improve your income stream: Hence, the 66/70 strategy. How do you […]

Social Security is More Complicated

October 21st, 2016 (1 Comment)

Since the Bi-Partisan Budget Act of 2015 changed the Social Security rules, you may have heard that Social Security planning is now less complicated. It is actually quite the opposite. The complexity of Social Security claiming hasn’t lessened at all; in fact it is more complicated to advise clients about their optimal strategies. Social Security […]

Recap of United States Senate Special Committee on Aging Meeting

September 23rd, 2016 (No Comments)

William Meyer, Founder and CEO of Social Security Solutions recently testified before this committee and we felt it worthy of summarizing for our readers. The purpose of the hearing was to examine the Government Accountability Office’s recent review of the extent to which Americans understand Social Security rules affecting their retirement benefits and the information […]

Shame on You

May 18th, 2016 (No Comments)

Life is a bucket of choices….some are easy, some not so much. But we all must make more seriously choices that will have a lifetime of consequences. Agreed? Well, that is what you are looking at when you make a decision on your Social Security benefit….basically a permanent decision. We are going to share with […]