How to Make Social Security Work: Finding Wealth in a Social Security Retirement

Social Security can be taken at 62 or at 66, and making the decision as to when you begin receiving payments can be difficult. The decision affects your finances for the remainder of your life, so you want to be sure you’ve figured out all the repercussions and benefits of your decision.

Paying into social security is easy – each month a certain percentage of your salary is automatically deducted. But the other end is more complicated -what you are entitled to is variable. Speak with a financial planner to see if it’s in your best interest to begin receiving Social Security at 62 or later.

This has been made an even more essential step since a new law was passed securing your decision. In the past, you could stop payments if you realized you’d made a mistake and filed too early, but now that decision is cast in stone once it’s made.

If you don’t have a financial planner, finding one in your area is simple, and could save you a lot of worry as you make this important decision.

All that retirement planning you started in your 20s is about to show its true self: is your retirement investing enough to support your family, or will you rely on social security to make ends meet? Is your income such that you can leave money in the stock market, or will you need to immediately access that money for survival? A certified financial planner can help you to answer these questions and make the best decision for yourself and your family.

If you are able to wait on enrolling in benefits, do. Each year you hold off means an 8% increase in you wait until 70 to enroll in the program, you will get thousands of extra dollars annually.