Recently, Mass Mutual Life Insurance distributed a 10-question true/false quiz on Social Security to 1,500 adults. Only 28% received a passing grade, and only ONE person got all ten questions right. Social Security is one of the most important retirement benefits available, yet most Americans have very little understanding on how to maximize their benefits. In this episode, Joe and Al play “game show”, taking you through each of these ten questions to see how you fare. Find out how to claim your ex-spouse’s benefit, important ages to remember regarding Social Security and how to claim benefits for your dependent children.

Free download – The Social Security Handbook:

00:00 – Intro

0:10 “What’s the largest asset you own facing retirement? Is it your IRA? 401(k)? Is it a pension plan? No, guess what it is—it’s your Social Security”

0:48 “Mass Mutual did a survey—they asked ten questions: 1500 people were asked the same ten questions, and only one person got them all right”

2:14 “[True or False:] The Social Security retirement benefits are based on my earnings history, so I’ll receive the same monthly benefit amount no matter when I start collecting (Answer is false)”

2:59 “The longer you wait, the more your Social Security income is going to be”

4:53 “When one spouse passes, unfortunately you’re going to lose a little bit of the benefit; but here’s the rule: you can take the higher of the two…it’s called the survivor benefit”

5:53 “If you’ve put in 40 quarters or ten years, you will qualify for Social Security benefits if you’re a citizen or not”

6:13 “66 is the full retirement age, and up to age 67”

8:04 “In most cases it’s not going to make any sense at all to take your Social Security benefit while you’re still employed”

10:11 “If you were married to an individual for at least ten years, you will be able to collect on that ex-spouse’s benefit”

14:11 “Double check to see if you have the G.O.P. (Government Offset Provision) [if you are a state or government employee]”

17:00 “A spousal benefit is this: let’s say my spouse’s benefit is $3,000 a month; the spousal benefit is half of that, so that’s $1,500. That would be my benefit even though I’ve never worked a day in my life”

20:09 “Let’s recap the questions in case you’re just tuning in now: the age you start collecting affects your monthly benefits; the longer you wait—you can wait until age 70, you’ll collect more per month. If your spouse dies, you collect the larger of the two benefits between the two of you. You do not need to be a U.S. citizen to collect benefits, as long as you paid into the system”

20:40 “Minor dependent children may qualify for benefits, a divorced person can claim benefits on ex-spouse’s history, benefits are indexed annually for inflation, so they increase each year and government workers may have some of their benefits restricted or lessened. Finally, full retirement age is age 66, you may lose full benefits with continued employment and you can qualify for spousal benefits even if you have not worked”

23:31 “You have to take a look at things a little bit differently today when you are claiming your benefits. Don’t take it as soon as you can get it; take a little bit of time here to figure out what strategies are appropriate for you”

Aired 8/1/15

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