There are so many rules around claiming Social Security benefits that it’s easy to make a mistake. In this video, Kyle Stacey, CFP® from Pure Financial Advisors shares the two biggest Social Security claiming mistakes he sees – and how avoiding them can help you maximize your Social Security benefits.
Transcript:
So, when it comes to claiming your Social Security benefits, you want to make sure you do it strategically, just because you have so many different options. You can start at age 62 or you can delay it all the way to age 70, or you can start claiming it’s somewhere in between. But there’s really a good strategy for every individual, it just depends on what your goals are. And typically, Social Security tends to be one of the primary sources of retirement income for people retiring. So you want to make sure that you’re getting the maximum amount of benefit for your individual situation.
The biggest mistake that I see most of the time is people just tend to take it too early. So if you’re full retirement age is 66 and you take it at 62, you’re going to get a permanent reduction of about 25 percent – and that’s for life. So you’ve got to be really careful about when you claim your benefits. Some people, what they think is, “OK, I’m working at a full-time job, I want to retire at 62 and maybe go do something I’m more passionate about.” So they’re like, “OK, at 62 I’ll turn my Social Security on, I’ll work part-time up until then, and then maybe later I’ll fully retire.” The issue with that is then if you’re working and earning wages prior to your full retirement age and collecting Social Security, your benefits can even further be reduced. So there are some income thresholds you want to be careful of. If you earn wages over $17,640 while earning or taking Social Security income prior to your full retirement age, any amount over that threshold is going to be reduced one dollar for every two dollars over that amount. So be real careful when you’re thinking about claiming for Social Security benefits.
So if you have any additional questions about your benefit or potentially when to start claiming it, you can visit our website at PureFinancial.com, or you can come and visit us and come check out our free assessment process.
