Like a critical life-saving operation where every move must be perfect and every minute counts, crafting and maintaining a retirement plan entails some of the most important decisions you will ever make. It should go without saying that what we do toward or past the end of our earning years has a grave finality to it, since we typically won't be able to make more money to replace that lost to poor decisions, nor have the time to forgo withdrawals and wait on a couple of market cycles to make up lost ground. Getting retirement planning right can give us all the income we need for a satisfying lifestyle, with adequate reserves against the risks of higher health care costs and long term care, and to leave a nice inheritance to the people or causes that we care about. Getting it wrong can yield a life of misery and even a shortened one if we cant afford to pay for the drugs, operations, and other care we may need. This guide could alert you to danger areas that you or your other advisors have overlooked, and brighten your future. If so, I am happy to have helped you and your family.
For many people, Social Security is a very big part of this equation. Even for affluent investors with other resources and sources of income, Social Security is a major asset. Yes, I know that Social Security is a social welfare system which engineers income redistribution favoring lower income folks. Still, it is unwise to marginalize the value of Social Security.
Social Security claiming decisions when and how you take your benefits can be one of the most bewildering and error-prone choices retirees make, and once done, there is usually no going back to fix mistakes. Since the old "file and suspend" "loophole" has been closed, I wont give you indigestion telling you about it, but hats off to those readers who had the foresight and good advice to grab the "free money" before the door closed, in some cases producing hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional benefits. A big mistake for many remains taking benefits too early as soon as available, or not before reaching full retirement age, or even later depending on your fact pattern. If you expect to live a normal life expectancy, you may be leaving lots of money on the table since total payouts to you could be much less than waiting, and getting a bigger check even for a shorter period of years. Not coordinating with your spouses claiming strategy is another potentially costly pitfall, as are divorcees not claiming benefits, and not carefully planning job income around Social Security tax traps. Another mistake we see is not checking for errors in the Social Security credit record it is not uncommon to see government mistakes on past earnings that slash benefits unless corrected. Finding errors and fixing them is not as hard as it sounds, and if you take us up on the free Social Security Maximization Analysis & Report, we will show you how. If you get the free analysis done, we can also do a detailed Social Security claiming strategy analysis to help guide you toward the best decisions in your personal circumstances, and try to get ahead of this complex, error-prone area.
Investors with portfolios, IRA's, annuities and other assets sometimes discount the value of Social Security, but this can be a big mistake. If you've been a high-earning taxpayer, live long and make smart Social Security claiming choices, the present value of a successful couples benefits can be as high as $3,504,000 or more that's how much you would have to have invested in a pension to match the income stream. And if you play your tax cards right, the after- tax value could be much, much more than a pension. Thats a serious asset by anyone's standards, and deserves careful planning.
If you have an investment accounts of even a few hundred thousand dollars or more, making the right Social Security "claiming" decisions can become very complicated, with taxes, joint mortalities, various benefit combinations and benefit ages all impacted by the rest of your unique wealth planning. The wrong choices on investment, IRA, and other planning could mean you needlessly pay tax on nearly all your Social Security! And wrong claiming ages and benefits choices by you and your spouse could mean a difference of hundreds of thousands or more in lost lifetime income if you're not careful.
Having enough income to afford a long, comfortable retirement is among the top goals of most Americans. Running out of money, not having enough for health or long term care, & being forced to rely on children or spend down their inheritance to make ends meet are among their greatest fears. And with over 50% of senior widows below the poverty line, leaving a spouse financially insecure is a grave concern. Avoiding the wrong Social Security decisions among the dozens of confusing options can go a long way to assure funding for the retirement you want. If you're like most investors in our experience, you're not getting quality input from your advisors on critical Social Security decisions. That's why I wrote this material, to fill in this gap for investors. Please take it with my compliments and wishes for greater income and security for you. I also offer a free Social Security Maximization Analysis and Report to help you apply the techniques in this report, and more, to help you squeeze every nickel you can out of this system you have likely paid hundreds of thousands into. Call my team at 800-262- 1082 to learn how to get yours.
Dr. Jeff Camarda is a financial advisor located in Fleming Island & Ponte Vedra, FL. Dr. Jeff has over 33 years' experience working with local businesses and investors. More information about Dr. Jeff can be found at www.camarda.com.
This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing advisor, not the WiserAdvisor editorial staff. WiserAdvisor has qualified Financial Advisors in Jacksonville, Florida area. WiserAdvisor offers financial advisor matching service who meets your screening criteria. Following financial industry's best practice, we recommend that you talk to at least 2 to 3 advisors before making any decision.
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