By knowing little or nothing about the Social Security program’s overwhelming complexity or the almost limitless choices you have in collecting benefits, you end up putting your retirement and spouse’s future at risk. It is your Social Security. You worked hard for it. Why not maximize it? When you don’t inform yourself appropriately, you are putting yourself and your spouse’s retirement ages in a very bad position. It is time to educate yourself.

Changing Your Mindset on Social Security

Are you aware that delaying benefits from 62 till age 70 increases your monthly payment by 76%?

Meanwhile, 74% of current recipients are receiving greatly reduced benefit by claiming early, thus reducing by tens of thousands of dollars the lifetime benefits they receive.

When life expectancy is getting longer, walking in lower payments for life is a recipe for disaster.

Many approaching retirement today mistakenly think that social security payments should begin at 62 (the age for early retirement), 66 or 67 (the full retirement age), or worse, at 70 (the stage when maintenance medications generally begin to be necessary). Rarely do any of those stages provide you with the maximum lifetime benefits that you could receive.

 

The New Policy

President Obama signed into law on Nov. 2, 2015 a bipartisan budget bill that raises the debt limit in order to avoid a government shutdown. The massive legislation eliminates two popular Social Security claiming strategies: File & Suspend and Restricted Application.

In a CNBC article, choosing one of these strategies that are eliminated, if you qualify, would mean tens of thousands or more than hundreds of thousands of dollars in Social Security benefits to a married couple over their lifetimes. The new rules dramatically change Social Security claiming options. They also effectively divide individuals into three groups.

The first group consists of individuals born on or before May 1, 1950. The second group is composed of those born between May 2, 1950 and Jan. 1, 1954. Those born on or after Jan. 2, 1954 comprise the third group

The law affects each group differently. Some individuals are grandfathered in while there are also others who aren’t. The law in itself is a complex matter. But there is no reason to fear the new law. Your weapon here is your level of understanding on how they will affect you.

One of the many things that we at East Coast Tax & Financial Planning can help you with is to provide you with a complimentary Social Security analysis that will help you understand how the new legislation will affect you and your benefits. This free analysis will also look into how your Social Security benefits can complement your overall retirement plan. The analysis will also provide the various options available that will maximize your Social Security benefits.

 

Why Study Your Social Security?

There are 567 ways to claim social security. Getting it right could mean tens of thousands of additional dollars in retirement income. When you make a mistake, it can cause you up to 72% reduction of benefits.

Meanwhile, the Social Security Handbook has 2,728 separate rules that govern your benefits. Are the employees at the Social Security Administration well-equipped with the knowledge needed to help you understand what works best for you? Well, they have zero employees who can advise you with the right strategies to maximize your social security benefits. To others claiming benefits may seem easy, but would you easily forget the heartbreak upon making a mistake that costs $100,000? There are about 100 million combinations of elections for each of the two spouses to take retirement and spousal benefits, plus File and Suspend or Start-Stop Strategies to consider.

 

What We Do to Help You

Admit it. You rarely have the chance to acquire the expertise in analyzing Social Security benefits by yourself. Is saving on costs in hiring a knowledgeable financial advisor worth the risk when you know that doing it all by yourself could mean benefit losses amounting to tens of thousands of dollars? Social Security planning is enormously important, and it is just part of your overall retirement plan.

We at East Coast Tax & Financial Planning can help! You can avail a Social Security analysis from our firm at no cost and certainly no obligation, so you can enjoy the maximum benefit that you are entitled to. Without this Social Security analysis, you will never have an idea just how much of your benefits you are missing out on.

For example, a married couple expecting only a little over million dollars in lifetime social security benefits may enjoy an additional $346,425. This is attainable when we do as much as over 20,000 calculations, and if we explore the four enhancement strategies available such as File & Suspend, Restricted Application, Do Over or Reset, and Start, Stop and Restart.

Also, we will help you know when and how to file for benefits so you can achieve your maximum lifetime income. We present the details as well on spousal, widow, children’s, and disability benefits. We also discuss the windfall elimination provision and government pension offset for teachers and government employees.

Try our Social Security Analysis now. You have nothing to lose, only a lot to gain! Give our office a call at 772-774-7970 and schedule your complementary Social Security Analysis today!