We received the following question this past week that many of you will find interesting: “I am 65 years old right now and plan to claim my Social Security retirement benefit later this year when I turn 66 (my full retirement age).  When I check my SS benefits statement, it estimates my benefit to be […]

Prior to June, 2011 Social Security numbers were assigned based on your physical location, or more specifically based on the zip code for the mailing address on your application for a Social Security number.  Your nine digit SS number is broken into three groups of digits, one group of 3, a group of 2 and […]

I ran across an interesting statistic recently that describes one reason why funding for the Social Security (SS) system is deteriorating over time.  Back in 1983, 90% of all income earned in the USA was subject to SS taxes.  That means that of all the income earned in the USA, 90% of those dollars contributed […]

So many Social Security claiming recommendations on our blog and elsewhere in the press involve reasons to delay claiming, we wanted to offer up a case for claiming Social Security early.  By the way, the reason we so often encourage people to delay claiming Social Security is due to its uniqueness as a lifetime, inflation […]

To qualify for Social Security benefits you have to accumulate a certain number of credits… or is it quarters? The methods on how to qualify have been ironed out over the years and hence the title of this week’s topic. This post is a bit more directed toward our listeners and readers who are still […]

Most people know they are eligible for Social Security retirement benefits when they reach age 62, but there is a whole Social Security timeline from age 50 to age 70 to consider as you explore your benefit options. Not everyone will qualify for the benefits we will describe at these key ages, but knowing what […]

Conditions for Claiming Spousal Benefits Social Security Spousal Benefits are an integral element of many Social Security claiming strategies. In brief, spousal benefits are intended to compensate a lower paid or non-employed spouse (such as a stay at home parent) through the work and income history of the working spouse. In order to be eligible […]

Back in 2011 the Social Security Administration suspended the mailing of paper statements to most people and started giving people online access through http://www.ssa.gov/myaccount in 2012.  Then in 2014 they decided to start mailing statements again to everyone who had NOT registered online and were between the ages of 25 and 60, but only every […]

The following multi-part question came in recently: “I am on SS disability benefits now.  Next year I reach my full retirement age of 66.  It is my understanding that my disability benefits will automatically convert to a retirement benefit.  Is this true, and will it be the same amount?  Also, I do not have 35 […]

This week we received the following multi-part question from a blog reader/listener about how the Social Security Administration (SSA) administers the Earnings Test.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Earnings Test, please refer to our previous posts on this topic for clarification. You can find these posts by searching for “Earnings Test” in the […]