As we mentioned in last week's Newsletter (see link below), we have been researching all the different ways we can help you increase your retirement income with very little out of pocket cost. What kind of additional retirement dollars are we talking about? Depending on your age and marital status, it could be from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This could benefit over 90% of our clients.
- Did you know that depending on the individual, that anywhere from 35% to 50% of their retirement income, comes from Social Security?
- Did you know that Social Security Planning should start no later than age 58 and as early as age 55?
- Did you know the difference between the best and worst possible decision of when to elect Social Security can be well over $150,000?
- Did you know that it is critical that you "get it right" the first time? After twelve months your benefits become permanent. There are no "do-overs".
- Did you know that the Social Security Administration will provide you with 567 ways to claim your benefit but the employees are forbidden by law to give you advice on which long term benefit strategy is best for you.
- Did you know that Social Security's Handbook has 2,728 separate rules governing its benefits. And it has thousands of explanations of those rules in its "Program Operating Manual System" called the POMS, which provides guidance on implementing the 2,728 rules. Talk about a user's nightmare!!
- Did you know that selecting your own benefit and getting it right is darn near impossible? For an age 62-couple, there are over 100 million combination of months for each of the two spouses to take retirement benefits, spousal benefits, and whether or not to file and suspend one's retirement benefits. There are also Start-Stop-Start strategies to consider. Each combination needs to be considered to figure out what choices will produce the highest benefits when valued in the present (measured in present value). For some couples who are very different in age, survivor benefits also come into play. In that case, the number of combinations can exceed 10 billion.
Look for some more information on Wednesday, November 13th, and the launching of our new website on Saturday, November 16th.
For those who did not see or would like to re-read last week's Newsletter,
click the link below.
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