How much are you putting away for retirement?
It's a question that keeps us up at night as we try to figure out how to manage our money. But what if we told you there's a safety net that can help ease your worries?
Social Security payments are an important part of saving for retirement, and knowing how they work can make a huge difference in your future finances. In this article, I'll go into detail about Social Security benefits, including how to get them and how they might affect your retirement savings. So, grab a cup of coffee and settle in, because it's time to get serious about securing your financial future.
Key Takeaways
- Social Security benefits are a type of income from the US government for workers who have paid Social Security payroll taxes.
- You can begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits at age 62, but your benefit will be reduced if you start before your full retirement age.
- Social Security benefit amounts are based on earnings history, age at which benefits are received, and type of recipient.
- Retiring early can result in a reduction of Social Security benefits, while delaying retirement can result in larger benefits.
- Delaying Social Security benefits is a wise financial decision for those who want to increase their eventual benefit.
Social Security Benefits Overview
The US government gives Social Security benefits to workers who have paid Social Security payroll taxes. These benefits are a form of income. These benefits give workers a base level of pay that they can build on as they plan for retirement.
Social Security payments are also a good form of insurance for workers who become disabled or whose family's main source of income dies.
How Benefits are Calculated
When figuring out your Social Security benefits, a formula uses your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME), your main insurance amount (PIA), and your age when you start getting benefits. First, Social Security takes your 35 best-paid years and adjusts them for changes in US pay over time.
This gives you your AIME.
Only income up to the highest amount that is taxed is taken into account.
Second, they use a formula to figure out your PIA, which is the amount you'll get from Social Security each month if you start getting payments at your full retirement age.
The PIA is worked out using a three-part method that takes your AIME and two "bend points" into account.
The bend points are changed every year to keep up with inflation.
Lastly, the SSA puts in your age when you start getting benefits.
You can lose more than a quarter of your Social Security benefits if you start getting them at 62, which is the earliest age you can.
However, you can increase your benefits for every month you wait between full retirement age and age 70.
Progressive Benefits
Social Security benefits are progressive, which means that they pay out a higher percentage of a worker's earlier earnings to those who made less money. The amount of your benefit goes up as your income goes up, up to a certain limit.
The amount of a benefit is rounded down to the next dime.
Calculating your Social Security benefit can be hard, but knowing how it's worked out can help you plan for your future.
Means-Tested Benefits
It is important to know that Social Security benefits are not based on a person's income or savings. This means that people whose income or savings are above a certain amount do not have their benefits cut or denied. But Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a program that helps blind, crippled, and older people who are in need of money. SSI has a resource cap, which means that a single person can't have more than $2,000 in cash, checking and savings accounts, stocks, bonds, or IRAs. A couple can have up to $3,000. The money in a savings account is a countable resource, so if it has more than $2,000, the person may not be qualified for SSI. But the Social Security Administration makes an exception for some ways to save money and programs that help people who are disabled or have low incomes.
Work Incentives
There are also work incentives for SSI and SSDI recipients, like the Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) program, which lets an SSI recipient save money for an educational or vocational goal in a separate account that is not counted as a resource.
The PASS program is a written plan that a person sends to Social Security outlining a work-related goal that can help them become financially independent and lessen or get rid of their need for disability benefits.
Receiving Social Security Benefits
If you are getting close to the age of retirement, you might be curious about Social Security payments. Here are some things you should remember:
When Can You Start Receiving Benefits?
You can start getting payments from Social Security as early as age 62. But your benefits will be cut if you start getting them before you reach full retirement age. Your full retirement age is between 66 and 67, depending on the year you were born. If you wait to take your benefits until you are 70 instead of at your full retirement age, the amount of your benefits will go up. The more you get, the longer you wait to start collecting after you become qualified.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Taking Benefits Early
Getting your benefit before your full retirement age has both pros and cons. The benefit is that you can start getting benefits sooner, but the downside is that your benefits will always be less. If you don't have enough money saved and need Social Security money to pay for basic needs, you may have no choice but to start collecting it as soon as you can.
But if you have savings or other income and can afford to put off your start date, your monthly benefit is likely to go up, which is good for you.
How Much Will Your Benefit Be Reduced?
Use the chart from the Social Security Administration to find out how much your income will be cut if you start getting it between age 62 and your full retirement age. Applying for benefits about four months before you want them to start is a good idea.
Can You Work and Still Receive Benefits?
Yes, you can work and get Social Security payments at the same time. But if you are younger than full retirement age, you can only earn so much and still get full benefits. The earnings cap changes every year.
In 2023, if you are younger than full retirement age for the whole year, you can earn up to $18,960 without having your benefits cut.
If you make more than the limit, your benefits will go down by $1 for every $2 over the limit that you make.
What Happens if Your Benefits Are Reduced?
You should know that the amount your benefits are cut by is not lost. At your full retirement age, your benefit will go up to make up for the benefits that were taken out. Also, every year, the Social Security Administration looks at the records of all beneficiaries whose wages for the previous year have been recorded.
If your most recent year of earnings was one of your best, they will recalculate your benefit and give you any raise you are due.
Work Incentives for Social Security Beneficiaries
People who get Social Security payments can also get extra money for working. For example, the Earned Income Exclusion lets a person leave out the first $65 that they make from working. Through the Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS), SSI recipients can save money for a work-related goal without losing their benefits.
The Social Security Administration also has a free program called "Ticket to Work," which is open to all people who get SSI or SSDI.
People can get help finding work in their area, like business counseling, training, and job placement, through this program.
Social Security Benefit Amounts
Factors That Affect Social Security Benefit Amounts
History of Earnings: Social Security payments are based on how much people earn and how much they pay in Social Security taxes. The amount of your benefit goes up with your income (up to a maximum taxed amount of $160,200 in 2023).
Social Security benefits are progressive, which means that they pay out a higher percentage of a worker's earlier earnings to those who made less money.
Age at Which You Start Getting Benefits: Your benefit amount is also affected by how old you are when you start getting Social Security benefits. You can start getting benefits as early as age 62, but if you do so before your full retirement age (FRA), your benefits will be less. Your FRA is based on the year you were born, and for people born in 1943 or later, it is between 66 and 67. If you wait to get benefits past your FRA, they will go up by a certain amount each year until you reach age 70.
Working while getting benefits: If you keep working after getting Social Security benefits, your benefit may be cut if you make more than a certain amount. People who haven't hit their FRA yet can earn no more than $18,960 per year in 2023. If you make more than this amount, your benefit will go down by $1 for every $2 you make over the cap. Once you hit your FRA, there is no limit on how much you can earn, and your benefit will not go down if you keep working.
Types of People Who Get Social Security: The amount of Social Security payments you get depends a lot on the type of recipient you are. The average monthly income for a retired worker is $1,830.66, which is more than most other types of receivers.
There are also workers who are disabled, the survivors of workers who have died, and the dependents of workers who are handicapped or who have died.
Taxation of Social Security Benefits
Benefits from Social Security are taxed, but not for everyone. If you are a single person and your total income is more than $25,000 or a married couple filing jointly and their total income is more than $32,000, you must pay federal income taxes on your Social Security payments.
But no matter how much money they make, nobody pays taxes on more than 85% of their Social Security payments.
How much of your benefits are taxed depends on how much money you make.
It's also important to know that 12 states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Utah, and West Virginia, also tax Social Security in different ways.
The Supplemental Security Income (SSI), on the other hand, is never taxed.
Strategies to Maximize Your Social Security Benefits
Delay Taking Benefits: One way to get the most out of your Social Security benefits is to wait until you are 70 to start taking them. By doing this, you can raise your monthly benefit and lower the amount of your benefit that is taxed.
Take money out of a Roth IRA. Instead of a standard IRA or 401(k), you could take money out of a Roth IRA, which is not taxed.
Lastly, you can invest in local bonds, which are not taxed by the federal government and sometimes by the state government as well.
Social Security Benefits and Retirement Savings
It can be tempting to retire early, but it's important to know how that will affect your Social Security payments. If you start getting benefits before you reach full retirement age, the amount you get will be less.
The earliest you can leave from Social Security is at age 62, but your benefit will be less than if you wait until your full retirement age.
Your benefit will go down based on when you were born and how long you have to go until you hit full retirement age.
Delaying Retirement for Bigger Benefits
Retirement perks depend on age at retirement. If you start getting benefits after the normal retirement age, they may be bigger. With delayed retirement points, a person can get the most out of retirement at age 70. In other words, people who leave early don't affect how much money Social Security has because the amount of benefits they can get doesn't depend on when they retire.
Receiving Social Security Benefits with Retirement Savings
Yes, you can get Social Security payments even if you have already saved money for retirement in other ways. If your pension comes from "covered" work, which is work for which you paid Social Security taxes, it doesn't change your payments.
But if you worked for a "non-covered" employer�one that didn't take out Social Security taxes�but also did enough work in "covered" jobs to qualify for benefits, your Social Security payouts could be cut under a rule called the Windfall Elimination Provision.
Working and Receiving Social Security Benefits
You can also get retirement payments from Social Security and work at the same time. But if you are younger than full retirement age and make more than the annual cap, your Social Security benefits could be cut.
Once you hit full retirement age, you can work and make as much money as you want without it affecting your Social Security benefits.
Early Retirement Reductions
If you retire more than 36 months early (up to a limit of 60), your Social Security benefit will be cut by an extra 5/12 of 1% per month. But if you wait to get Social Security benefits until after your full retirement age, you can get delayed retirement credits.
These credits increase your benefits by a certain amount each month that you wait after your full retirement age until you turn 70.
It's important to remember that Social Security payments are a big part of retirement savings, but they shouldn't be the only source of income. It's important to have a well-rounded plan for retirement that includes savings from 401(k) plans, IRAs, and other investments, as well as saves from other sources.
You can have a happy retirement if you plan ahead and make smart financial choices.
Why Retirement Planning is Crucial for Maximizing Social Security Benefits
As we approach retirement age, it's natural to start thinking about our social security benefits. After all, these benefits can provide a significant source of income during our golden years.
However, what many people fail to realize is that the amount of social security benefits we receive is directly tied to our retirement planning.
In order to maximize our social security benefits, we need to have a solid retirement plan in place.
This means taking a close look at our current financial situation, setting realistic goals for our retirement, and making smart investments that will help us achieve those goals.
By taking the time to plan for our retirement, we can ensure that we're making the most of our social security benefits.
This can mean the difference between a comfortable retirement and one that's filled with financial stress and uncertainty.
So if you're looking to save money and secure your financial future, start planning for retirement today!
For more information:
Retirement Planning 101: Saving for Your Future
Delaying Social Security Benefits
Those who want to get more money from Social Security in the long run should wait to get their payments. By waiting to get Social Security payments until age 70 instead of when you reach your full retirement age (FRA), your eventual benefit goes up by two-thirds of 1% per month, or 8% per year.
This is what is known as "delayed retirement credits."
When do delayed retirement credits start accumulating?
The points start to add up in the month you reach your FRA, which is currently 66 and 4 months for people born in 1956 and is going up by two months every year to 67 for those born in 1960 or later.
When you turn 70, you stop getting more points.
When will the credits be added to your benefit payment?
If you apply for Social Security after your FRA but before age 70, your delayed retirement credits are added to your benefit check starting in January of the year after you earned them. If you wait until you're 70, you'll get all your points from the first payment.
What if you already get retirement benefits, but you want to get more in the future?
You can ask Social Security to stop your payments if you are already getting retirement benefits but want to get more money in the future. During the time that your benefits are put on hold, you will still get the points as if you had not yet claimed them.
What should you do if you decide to delay your retirement?
If you don't want to quit right away, you should sign up for Medicare at age 65. If you don't sign up for Medicare by the time you're 65, it could be delayed and cost more. If you leave before you turn 70, you won't get some of your delayed retirement credits until January of the year after you start getting benefits.
What happens to Social Security benefits when a beneficiary dies?
When a person who gets Social Security dies, their payments stop. But based on the worker's wages, the worker's family may be able to get benefits. Payouts are made to widows, widowers, and dependents of qualified workers who have died.
For benefits, the person who died must have worked long enough.
Survivor payments from Social Security are very important for young families with young children.
What should you do if a Social Security beneficiary dies?
As soon as possible after an heir dies, the Social Security Administration should be told. Survivors may be eligible for benefits, depending on how close they were to the person who died. As soon as Social Security hears about a person's death, it will change any regular benefits into survivors' benefits.
A Special Lump-Sum Death Payment could be made immediately by the agency.
But there are no Social Security payments for the month that a person dies.
What if a Social Security payment is made after the beneficiary's death?
If a Social Security transfer is made after the person receiving it has died, it must be returned. For example, if a payment for April benefits is made in May and the recipient dies in May, the family or estate can keep the payment.
But if a payment for May benefits is made in May and the recipient dies in May, the payment will have to be repaid.
Delaying your Social Security payments is a smart financial move that can help you get more money in the long run. If you decide to extend your retirement, make sure to sign up for Medicare at age 65. If a beneficiary dies, his or her survivors may be able to get payments, but the Social Security Administration needs to know as soon as possible.
Note: Please keep in mind that the estimate in this article is based on information available when it was written. It's just for informational purposes and shouldn't be taken as a promise of how much things will cost.
Prices and fees can change because of things like market changes, changes in regional costs, inflation, and other unforeseen circumstances.
Summing up the main ideas
In the end, social security payments are an important part of saving for retirement. They give people who have worked hard their whole lives and deserve to enjoy their golden years a safety net. But it's important to keep in mind that your Social Security payments may not be enough to keep you living the way you want to in retirement.
It is very important to have savings and stocks to add to your income.
It can be hard to figure out how to get your social security benefits, but it's worth taking the time to learn about your choices.
Delaying your benefits can lead to a bigger payout, but you should weigh the pros and cons before making a choice.
In the end, it's up to each person to save money for retirement.
Each person must take charge of their own financial future and make smart decisions.
The key is to start saving early and keep it up, whether it's through Social Security payments, a 401(k), or other investments.
So, as you plan for retirement, keep in mind that social security payments are just one piece of the puzzle.
Learn about all of your choices and come up with a plan that works for you.
You can have a comfortable and fulfilling retirement with a little bit of work and a lot of drive.
Your Freedom Plan
Tired of the daily grind? Do you have dreams of financial independence and freedom? Do you want to retire early to enjoy the things you love?
Are you ready to make your "Freedom Plan" and escape the rat race?
How Much of Your Paycheck Should You Save? (With Data)
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Links and references
- Understanding the Benefits by the Social Security Administration
- Retirement Handbook for UCRP Members by UCnet
- PERSI Members Handbook by the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho
- Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Planning by the Department of Labor
- Strategies to Help Women Build Retirement Savings at Any Age by Merrill Lynch
- ssa.gov
- cbpp.org
- aarp.org
- cnbc.com
My article on the topic:
Retirement Savings 101: Tips & Strategies
Personal reminder: (Article status: rough)