I am 62 and 1 month. My question is do I need to fill out a social security application to know what my monthly will be? If I do fill out the application will that in anyway sign me up to retire?
Thanks for your understanding and help!
GrandmaBlodg
1 Like
Welcome GrandmaBlodg!
You might start here. You can learn about the benefit amount online and many of your questions can be answered.
https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/learn.html
I would suggest you read this link to learn about retirement benefits and which plan might work best for you. Just learning about them does not require you to sign up now. There is a separate link for that. If you want to try to speak, in person, to a Social Security counselor you can look up where the nearest facility is. I am not sure how long of a wait you will have until you can meet in person. I imagine you can try to speak to someone over the phone. In all honesty, you might chose to speak to a couple of different SS counselors because I was given two different amounts by two different counselors in the same facility although they were a couple of months apart.
Robyn
(grandma of 10)
Yes, I agree with Robyn. Getting objective info on when best to begin SS and potential pitfalls along the way, is difficult. Unlike Medicare, Social Security doesn’t have a grant-funded local education and support group of trained volunteers to assist you. Yes, you can call SS and go on hold waiting to talk to a SS rep, but the info provided here can vary and although I’m sure its usually good info, on occasion they get it wrong.
The link provided is good general info, but what will ultimately matter is putting pen to paper and with a calculator, figure out what is best for you and your income needs. You can sit and work thru this yourself or with a family member, or you can hire a Certified Financial Planner who is good at this calculation or who uses some of the current software that will figure this our for you. But this will likely cost you a few hundred bucks and in many areas, finding such a fee-only CFP planner can be difficult.
One other factor that must be taken into account is the potential penalty to the SS benefit if you continue to work and make up the amount that will then reduce your SS benefit.
BruceM
Hi BruceCM,
“One other factor that must be taken into account is the potential penalty to the SS benefit if you continue to work and make up the amount that will then reduce your SS benefit.”
But at FRA, the benefit will be adjusted for the additional wages earned plus an adjustment to PIA for the benefits not paid.
But it will not change the basic reduction of benefits for an early filing.
Does that help you?
Gene
All holdings and some statistics on my Fool profile page
http://my.fool.com/profile/gdett2/info.aspx
1 Like
If your SS benefit is reduced due to compensation earnings in excess of the maximum allowed when you’ve begun benefits prior to FRA, the total of all reductions will be used at your FRA to adjust up your monthly SS benefit such that the total of past reductions will be repaid to you over your life expectancy. How this is calculated I do not know, but what is important to remember is benefit reductions prior to FRA will be gradually returned to the beneficiary when they reach their FRA