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September 7, 2021
Filing Strategies
Filing and suspending benefits to accrue delayed retirement credits (DRC)no longer applies after April 30, 2016 due to the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2015. You may still suspend your own retirement entitlement for the DRC’s, you just can no longer receive any other benefits while yours is in suspense. The new rules are: * an individual may not receive benefits for the period of voluntary suspension; * no auxiliary benefits (except divorced spouse’s benefits) may be paid on the record of a person who requests voluntary suspension for the period of voluntary suspension; * an individual who requests voluntary suspension cannot receive benefits on another record for the period of voluntary suspension; and * voluntary suspension will end with the earlier of (1) the month following the month in which an individual requests reinstatement of benefits or (2) the month in which the individual attains the age of 70 What does this mean for you? Well it affords you a bit of flexibility with your filing options. If you lose your job unexpectedly and need the income, you can file and receive your reduced retirement as early as age 62. If your employment situation changes, or income needs change, you still have the option of suspending your benefits to increase your benefit by accruing DRC’s. The end result would increase your ongoing benefits from attainment of age 70 onward. You can also file for retirement, recieve benefits temporarily, then file a request to withdraw the application. This option is only available within the first 12 months of entitlement and all benefits received must be repaid. If you need the funds immediately for any reason and have the ability to repay timely this gives you the option to access your retirement funds temporarily with no impact on future entitlement options. Be mindful, this does affect any other entitled person on your earnings record. Maryellen Eckert SSA Specialist
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June 7, 2021
Social Security Online
You may be familiar with SSA.Gov and have your MySSA Account established. Did you know SSA also is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube? They have even established a Blog where you can post your questions. With all the available technology, is your personal information more at risk? Reality is that fraud and abuse happen every day. Here’s some tips to follow: 1. Never say your Social Security Number out loud or carry your card in your wallet. 2. Do not believe calls, emails, or texts that you need to pay a fee or take other actions to resolve an issue with the government. Stay updated on current fraud scams by viewing OIG.SSA.GOV/Newsroom. 3. Never give out your personal information and shred any documents that have your personal information on it. 4. Be sure you have updated anti-virus software, complex passwords, and don’t share your password with anyone. 5. Be sure to review your credit report regularly. If you haven’t established a MySSA Account by now, please consider establishing one. This protects your SSA information from others attempting to impersonate you. If you don’t want to utilize the services, you can request SSA deactivate your account so no online business can be processed. Maryellen Eckert SSA Specialist
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January 7, 2021
SSA’s Current Service
SSA Customer Service under COVID is even worse than usual. They currently have all offices closed for in-office service. You are only afforded teleservice and video chat. You can call the 800 number to wait for an hour or so only to be disconnected. If you do get a person to talk with, it’s likely they lack the training and experience to answer your question completely. This has resulted in a drop of applications and the public not receiving all the benefits they are eligible for. You need to be your own best advocate. Having the financial guidance that Mike provides along with an SSA expert gives you an advantage. Be sure to stay current and review the below link outlining all of 2021’s updated rates. https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/colafacts2021.pdf Be sure to stay up to date with current information and use SSA’s online services as much as possible. If you have a my Social Security acccount at ssa.gov, you can update your direct deposit, change your address, get a replacement SSA card, benefit estimate information, tax documents, and status of your pending application. As always, if you have concerns about your own Social Security, please reach out to obtain current, correct information for you. Maryellen Foley-Eckert SSA Specialist
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December 7, 2020
COVID and my SSA amount
“I’ve been laid off”, “My hours have been cut”, “My wages have been reduced”, “I’m on unemployment”…. During this time many have had their financial bottom line affected and have wondered the impact on future entitlement. Will COVID affect my social security amount? The short answer is maybe…. SSA benefit rates are computed using your earnings record. Retirement benefits are based on your top 35 years indexed for inflation. Gaps or reduction in wages do affect your SSA benefit computation: * If you have 35 years of wages already on record, the impact could be negligible. If you have 20 years wages on record and now are unemployed, any gap year will result in zero’s being used in your benefit computation. * Reduction in wages reduces the result of your computation. The higher your wage record the higher the benefit rate. * If you return to work full time and your total earnings record has 35 years to use for the retirement computation no zero years are used. * Unemployment benefits do not count as wages for SSA computational purposes. Only earned income is used in the calculation. You can use the following calculator for exact details on your record: Benefits Planner: Retirement | Online Benefits Calculator | SSA Happy Holidays. Wishing all the best to you and yours in the New Year. Maryellen Eckert SSA Specialist
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