Increasing your Social Security benefits
They say that timing is everything and there is one area of retirement planning where getting it right can make a huge difference in your retirement income and security. This week we are devoting our entire program to helping you maximize your and your loved ones’ social security benefits with the help of one of the acknowledged experts in the field, personal finance journalist, Mary Beth Franklin.
WEALTHTRACK Episode #0839; Originally Broadcast on March 23, 2012
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Mary Beth Franklin
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They say that timing is everything and there is one area of retirement planning where getting it right can make a huge difference in your retirement income and security. This week we are devoting our entire program to helping you maximize your and your loved ones’ social security benefits with the help of one of the acknowledged experts in the field, personal finance journalist Mary Beth Franklin.
Most Americans assume collecting social security is a no-brainer- just start collecting yours when eligible. The reality is far more complicated and can make a difference of tens of thousands of dollars for you, your spouse and dependents, plus ex-spouses, widows and widowers. In an age when traditional pension plans are disappearing, more and more Americans of retirement age are depending on social security for all or a substantial part of their retirement income. For many it’s the only source of guaranteed income they have.
According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, in 2009 60% of Americans 65 or older received at least 75 percent of their income from social security benefits. Last year some 58 million Americans received some sort of benefit from social security. According to a Bankrate survey, over half of 62-year-old baby boomers- those born from 1946 to 1964- are expected to follow their parents’ example and file for social security at the youngest possible age- 62. And 75% of baby boomers are expected to file before age 66, the age when one receives full social security benefits.
The conventional wisdom when it comes to social security follows the old adage- a bird in hand is worth two in the bush, and many Americans need the income that social security offers starting at age 62. But as you’ll hear from Mary Beth Franklin, the cost of such a decision can be high for millions of older people and their family members.
Mary Beth is now a contributing editor at InvestmentNews, the leading trade publication for financial advisors. For many years, she was a senior editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and editor of Kiplinger’s annual retirement income issue. I will talk to Mary Beth about how you and your loved ones should time your benefits to take maximum advantage. Ex-spouses should listen too!
As always, if you can’t join us at the appointed hour on your local public television station, or if WealthTrack is pre-empted by a pledge drive this week, you can watch the show on our website as streaming video or a podcast. You can also check out our audio only podcasts. Our most recent was an exclusive with Great Investor Bill Wilby. Bill ran the top performing Oppenheimer Global Fund for many years before his retirement, at the market top in 2007. Talk about timing! He is running his own retirement portfolio now and generously shared his strategy with me.
For those of you who would like to see our program 48 hours in advance of the broadcast, you can subscribe to our WealthTrack PREMIUM subscription service on the website.
The WealthTrack team is off to Paris for the weekend to attend a conference on monetary policy and film two shows with Great Investors Paul McCulley and an exclusive interview with Legg Mason’s legendary investor Bill Miller. They are close friends and will have much to discuss from France’s capital.
In the meantime, we hope you have a great weekend as well. Make the week ahead a profitable and a productive one!
Visit SocialSecuritySolutions.com or call 866.762.PLAN. Use commercial code “MBF” to receive 10% off your personalized report.
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