Now is a great time to start financial and tax planning for the next year. To do so, you must first look at any changes that were made to tax laws. We’ll do that by exploring 2 articles from Forbes and CNBC which take a closer look at any imminent changes to the tax code.

Then we’ll dive into the main segment with an article from Investment News which claims that fewer retirees are claiming Social Security at age 62. Listen in to hear if there will be any tax and retirement planning changes that affect you and to hear why fewer people are claiming Social Security early. 

Outline of This Episode

• [1:42] Changes in tax planning for 2022
• [5:12] Changes in retirement savings plans for 2022
• [8:08] Fewer retirees are claiming Social Security at 62

Tax updates from Forbes

Despite all the news media clamoring that there might be significant tax changes in 2022, there haven’t been many changes. According to an article from Forbes, marginal tax rates will rise slightly. The standard deduction will rise to $12,950 for individuals and $25,900 for married couples filing jointly. Capital gains rates remain unchanged for the next year, however, the brackets moved slightly to keep pace with inflation. Unfortunately, the charitable deduction that was available to nonitemizers in 2021 did not carry over to 2022. The SALT tax cap could possibly increase from $10,000 to a significantly higher number, but as of this recording, it is not yet official. 

Retirement plan changes in 2022

Do you max out your 401K? I’m always shocked when I realize how few people actually maximize their savings. Only 8.5% of workers save the maximum allotted amount. 

Even though the vast majority of people do not max out their 401Ks, savers will have the opportunity to save even more next year. The employee contribution limit for tax-deferred retirement savings plans will increase to $20,500 which is up $1,000 from 2021. On the other hand, Roth IRA limits will remain unchanged at $6,000. 

So despite the dramatic headlines in the financial media earlier this year, very little has changed for tax and retirement planning from 2021 to 2022. We’ll keep you posted if anything new arises. 

Fewer retirees are claiming Social Security at age 62

If you are curious about the effects of the baby boom consider this: the number of men who turned 62 has more than doubled between the years of 1997 and 2019. This shocking number makes it easy to be fooled by the number of people who claim Social Security early since the number of people who claim Social Security has risen, but when you look at the percentage of people who claim early the statistics have declined greatly. According to a study at Boston College by the Center for Retirement Research (CRR), the percentage of 62-year-olds who claim Social Security early at age 62 has decreased in the past 20 years. 

How has the Covid pandemic affected Social Security claiming age behavior? 

Although we won’t have hard data for another year, it looks like some older workers who lost their jobs may have turned to Social Security to help make ends meet. Early evidence shows that the effects of Covid have not pushed large numbers of people into early retirement. This could be because those most affected cannot afford to stop working.

I’m encouraged that folks are waiting to collect Social Security and in doing so growing the guaranteed income portion of their retirement income. Hopefully, this is due to retirees actively making the decision to defer, rather than deferring because they are having to work longer. Whether it is planned or unplanned, deferring will result in a larger benefit for those retirees. 

This is our last original episode of 2021 so that I can spend more time over the holidays with my family. We’ll close out the year with a list of my favorite episodes from 2021. Enjoy the holiday season, and we’ll meet again in 2022!

Resources & People Mentioned

• Forbes tax article
• CNBC tax article
• Investment News article

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