Three Smart Social Security Moves You Can Make Today

When it comes to planning for retirement Social Security plays an important role. If your savings alone aren’t sufficient for covering all your living expenses this can be especially true.

If you’re looking to improve your financial position, you need a solid Social Security plan in place before starting retirement. While being overtly reliant on Social Security isn’t recommended at all, your benefits may be enough to pay off a significant portion of your bills. You can take several Social Security-related moves now that can help you prepare for your retirement even when retirement is decades away.

• Plan the age you think you want to start claiming benefits

Your highest-earning years are not the only factor that affect your benefits; the age from which you start claiming them can also have a big impact.

You do not need to retire & claim benefits at the same time. The age from which you start claiming can also affect the age that you pick to retire. In case your savings aren’t  enough, you can delay retirement & claim benefits in order to have more time to grow your savings. You can also bring in larger checks every month.

• Be sure of how much you’ll be depending on your Social Security benefits

Your benefits are supposed to only cover around 40% of pre-retirement income. They aren’t intended to be your primary source of income in retirement. Make sure that you aren’t overtly dependent on your benefits while planning for your retirement.

You can easily plan out how you’d like to utilize your benefits in paying off your bills during retirement, when you have an idea of how much you’ll be receiving each month in benefits and the age that you expect to start filing claims. This will help you figure the amount of savings that you’ll need for bridging this gap and let you plan accordingly.

If you take these actions now, you’ll be able to come up with a retirement strategy that helps you maximize your savings and benefits. Social Security benefits play a vital role in helping you plan your retirement. However, you do not need to wait till retirement to maximize them.

• Check how much you’re likely to receive in benefits

Your mySocialSecurity account can provide you with a reasonable estimate of future benefits. You can create an account here for checking your financial statements online.

While your estimated benefits are dependent on real earnings, remember that it may change based on the number of years you decide to work. While basic benefits are calculated after taking the average of the thirty-five highest earning years during your career, those who have not worked thirty-five years yet may find their benefits to be a bit low. However, if you are nearing your retirement age and aren’t expecting a dramatic change in your annual income, your estimate is likely to have a higher degree of accuracy.

If your benefits fall short of your expectations even if you have worked for over 35 years you can raise it, by choosing to work for a few more years.

DID YOU KNOW that Federal Employee Disability Insurance is more affordable than you might think?