Expert Commentary
Straight From the Experts
I can tell when a husband loves his wife when we plan with our clients
Yesterday posted about how women live longer and how this needs to be incorporated into a Social Security and withdrawal strategy. This week, Boston College’s Security Project re-posted some good research from 2005 about how women “irrationally” claim their Social Security benefits, see attachement. We have written about this too. What I want to reflect to you is the behavior and qualitative aspects I observe in practice. Recently, I had a married women contact me for help. It was clear that she should claim early [...]
How working impacts your Social Security decision and retirement plan?
How working impacts your retirement plan? Here is a recent article quoting the founders of www.SocialSecuritySolutions.com. Income from work may be an important part of your retirement. Making sure you integrate this into your retirement plan is critical. Coordinating how you withdrawal and claim Social Security can save your a lot of money. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/taxes-social-security-and-your-part-time-job-2013-02-13
Get your Social Security statement online
Yesterday the Social Security Administration released new functionality on their website that allows you to get your benefit amounts and review your earnings history. I did it myself…you set up a user profile and go through a process that takes 5 minutes. The link to where you start is copied below. This is a big deal since the SSA stopped mailing out statements to everyone. If you are over 60 years of age, you will receive a paper statement. But, for everyone else you will [...]
Fortune / CNN Money Recommend Social Security Solutions
Jean Chatzky a popular journalist and TV expert on financial matters on The Today Show recommends Social Security Solutions in her recent article on Social Security in Fortune/CNN Money. See her article and case example by clicking the link below: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2014/01/14/social-security-calculator/
Focus in the right place to get more
Will you receive more out of the system than you put in? – lots of banter about this article today, see below. Progressively more Americans will pull more money out of Social Security than they paid in. This is NOT new news, right! We know there are more people retiring than workers paying into the system. Change has to happen. The key take-away is figuring out: 1) Will you be impacted by impending change based on your age and when you retire2) Creating a strategy [...]
Fewer people claiming at 62
The word is getting out. Here is a recent article reporting on data that 10% less men and 8% less women are claiming as early as possible at 62. This is consistent with findings from another poll that will soon be released by Kiplinger that says more impending retirees intend to wait to receive more benefits. I contend this trend is the combination of 2 factors: 1) the economy is getting better, and 2) people are starting to learn that they can find a lot [...]
Dr. Reichenstein selected to The Experts panel for the Wall Street Journal
William Reichenstein, the Head of Social Security Solutions Research and Baylor Professor, was selected by the Wall Street Journal to be a contributor to the newspaper. The WSJ has a section call The Experts where renowned industry experts are asked to write about important financial topics. See Dr. Reichenstein’s first contribution entitled, “When is the Right Time to Start Claiming Social Security” here: http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/tag/william-reichenstein/
Do not get torpedoed
Tax Torpedo – be careful how you withdrawal your retirement savings. It is easy to make a mistake and increase the taxes on your Social Security. I’m quoted in Investment News today. Mary Beth Franklin, expert on Social Security and retirement planning, interviewed me a while back on the tax torpedo. This is an article for advisors, but there are a few examples that are worth reading. What is this? If you withdrawal your money from your savings the wrong way, your taxes on Social [...]
Did you take Social Security early?
Many people took Social Security earlier than they wanted because of the recession and unforeseen circumstances. The rules let you “redo” your Social Security if it has been less than 12 months since y ou started. Our research shows optimizing Social Security can add many years of longevity to most peoples savings. Take a “second look” and assess whether it makes sense for your to do a redo.http://crr.bc.edu/briefs/who-claimed-social-security-early-due-to-the-great-recession/
Books sell out after first day of Financial Planning conference
Meyer and Reichenstein’s popular book, Social Security Strategies, was the first book to sell out at the National Financial Planning Association meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The popular book is in its third release and has been references are the primer and authoritative book on how to maximize benefits. You can source a copy from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0067MDIA4/ref=s9_bbs_gw_d3_g351_ir01?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=1XFEYQY6B6B4H04EM278&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846
Best way to coordinate Social Security with your savings – Morningstar interviews Founders
See recent interview of Meyer and Reichenstein by Morningstar. Learn how maximizing Social Security can make your money last longer. A case study and free report allow you to see how their research published in the Journal of Financial Planning could help you coordinate your claiming strategy with your retirement savings. Link to article: http://ibd.morningstar.com/article/article.asp?id=610000&CN=brf295,http://ibd.morningstar.com/archive/archive.asp?inputs=days=14;frmtId=12,%20brf295
Behavioral Biases in Selecting Social Security
I was recently asked to provide a list of “biases” we observe related to how Americans view and start their Social Security benefits. I’m excited that “awareness” is growing about the positive impact of creating a smart strategy. You will see some good research coming out in the this area using our work and evolving this list: Behavioral Biases regarding claiming decision with Social Security 1. Bias – “immediate gratification” over significant increase in “delayed gratification” (I’ll take my 1 marshmallow now versus waiting a week [...]
2013 Cost of Living Adjustment is 1.7%
The media asked me about the new 2013 adjustment to Americans’ Social Security. Today the announcement came in, as expected, at 1.7%. As most people know, last year the adjustment was 3.6% and the previous two years were 0%. I have 3 comments on this cost of living adjustment: Most people will see an increase of about $12 a year ($25 at the high end). Yes, this is it. The joke is that Medicare Part B, which is taken out of most peoples’ Social Security [...]
10 Social Security Mysteries
Below is a copy of a recent article by Andy Landis on MarketWatch. I think it is good, and agree many don’t know much about Social Security…well, that’s because it is too complicated. Our goal it to make it simple and help you get the most money you are entitled to. Of course, I agree with everything Andy writes below except the calculators section that plugs the tools on the Social Security’s website. Remember, the government has a mandate that Social Security cannot give “advice” [...]
10 ideas to fix Social Security
Attached below is a good article that talks about ways to fix Social Security. Note, there is enough money to pay 100% of benefits to future retirees for the next 20+ years. The system will need to change in the future since there are more Americans retiring. The questions is how to fix the system? Who will be impacted? Remember, a small change to payroll tax or a change to full retirement age could fix the problem easily. The rule of thumb is that if you [...]
$1 Billion more for our clients!
We are proud to help our clients “get more” Social Security benefits in 2013…..over $1 Billion more. Social Security is one of the largest financial decisions you make in your life. We have made the process to determine how to claim and find more benefits SIMPLE. Unfortunately, there is a daunting amount of rules and it is complicated. Our software leverages years of research published in the most prestigious academic journals. You can see our running count of the additional benefits we have found at [...]