General Guidelines for Starting Social Security Benefits
Just as its name suggests, Social Security was originally created to provide security in retirement. It has been an “automatic” benefit. But financial advisors are not compensated for Social Security; therefore, most people nearing retirement are not advised about the material difference that factors such as marital status, age at inception, and other income can make in your overall lifetime Social Security benefit. Your monthly and lifetime benefits can be significantly enhanced my carefully constructing the best strategy for your situation.
Advice on Social Security needs to consider all the household factors. Social Security represents one of the biggest retirement income sources for most Americans, so your benefit options should be well thought out. It is easy to come up with a suboptimal recommendation if you just make the simplest or most convenient Social Security benefit selection without a holistic approach. Taking a holistic approach as we do means that you identify all of the factors that can impact your Social Security benefit and carefully consider the impact of each on your selections. Your personal status—whether you are married and under what conditions—is one such factor as the graphic below illustrates.
“Rules of Thumb” by Personal Status:
Married
Our experience is that most financial advisors are not properly trained about Social Security options, don’t understand the tax impact related to Social Security, and have misaligned incentives that lead to a lack of expertise to help consumers with Social Security selection. As a result, you may not be getting the best advice available regarding your options. We provide a free, no-obligation Social Security Quickstart Report customized to each situation, along with counseling about optimal Social Security selection, to help retirees make the best decision for their situation.
Single
Our experience is that most financial advisors are not properly trained about Social Security options, don’t understand the tax impact related to Social Security, and have misaligned incentives that lead to a lack of expertise to help consumers with Social Security selection. As a result, you may not be getting the best advice available regarding your options. We provide a free, no-obligation Social Security Snapshot Report customized to each situation, along with counseling about optimal Social Security selection, to help retirees make the best decision for their situation.
Divorced
Our experience is that most financial advisors are not properly trained about Social Security options, don’t understand the tax impact related to Social Security, and have misaligned incentives that lead to a lack of expertise to help consumers with Social Security selection. As a result, you may not be getting the best advice available regarding your options. We provide a free, no-obligation Social Security Snapshot Report customized to each situation, along with counseling about optimal Social Security selection, to help retirees make the best decision for their situation.
Widowed
Our experience is that most financial advisors are not properly trained about Social Security options, don’t understand the tax impact related to Social Security, and have misaligned incentives that lead to a lack of expertise to help consumers with Social Security selection. As a result, you may not be getting the best advice available regarding your options. We provide a free, no-obligation Social Security Snapshot Report customized to each situation, along with counseling about optimal Social Security selection, to help retirees make the best decision for their situation.