How Can I Get A Social Security Statement
You can get your Social Security Statement online by using your personal mySocial Security account. If you dont yet have an account, you can easily create one. Your online Statement gives you secure and convenient access to estimates for retirement, disability, and survivors benefits you and your family may be eligible for.It also shows your earnings history.To set up or use your account to get your Statement, go to . We also mail paper Statements to workers age 60 and older 3 months before their birthday. This is if they dont receive Social Security benefits and dont yet have a personal mySocial Security account. Workers who dont want to wait for their scheduled mailing can request their Statementby following these instructions.The Statement will arrive by mail in four to six weeks.
Plan For Interview Success After Retirement
Interviewing can be tricky at any age, but after youve closed out the first chapter of your career and are entering a new stage in your life, how do you proceed?
Its safe to say that just like any job seeker, you should always focus on the needs of the employer and keep an updated online presence and resume. But you may also consider taking some online courses to add to your resume, networking or seeking the guidance of a career coach if necessary.
You want to make sure especially if you’re applying for an office position that you can be found online and have a strong online profile. It can be a strike against you if your name is googled and nothing pops up. And if you’re turning in a resume, don’t list every position youve had since high school. Keep it short and relevant. And also, pay attention to how you present yourself. When you’re in person meeting people, whether it’s by zoom or in real life, you want to make sure you’re energetic. Try to avoid dated references, clothing and hairstyles. And above all, focus on the needs of the employer. Employers hire people to solve problems. And they want to hear how you can help them do that.
Mac Prichard
What is the maximum Social Security benefit? by AARP.
Consider The Logistics Of Working After Retirement
You must look ahead into other streams of revenue. Whether it be other investments or continuing in the workforce longer in a full or part-time capacity, to help you live comfortably into your senior years.
There are several logistics of working after retirement that youll need to consider. For example, if bringing in additional income will adversely affect or have no impact on your social security benefits when youll need to start withdrawing money how to keep contributing to your 401 or other retirement savings plans how and if working will affect your Medicare policy.
While there are several resources available to help you in your post-retirement journey, make sure to always consult the Social Security Administration to double-check your resources.
You can work while still receiving Social Security retirement: The SSA notes that you can work while you receive Social Security retirement or survivors benefits but it does review the records of all Social Security beneficiaries who have wages reported for the previous year. And if your latest year of earnings is one of your highest years, the SSA will recalculate your benefit and pay you any increase you are due. That increase is retroactive to January of the year after you earned the money.
Take time to review early, full and delayed retirement: The age you plan to retire could very well influence your decision to work or how many hours you work.
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How Much Could Social Security Benefits Increase In 2023
With the CPI for August now available, the nonprofit Senior Citizens League has predicted a COLA increase of 8.7%. That’s more modest than its claim of 10% earlier in the year, but would still be the highest since 1981, when the COLA was 11.2%. An additional 8.7% would work out to an additional $144 a month in the average check.
That’s among the more conservative estimates, though. In an Aug. 30 , Alicia Munnell, director of Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research, predicted the boost would be 8.9% on the lowest end and 9.5% on the upper end.
That same month, Richard Johnson, director of the retirement policy program at the Urban Institute, told AARP that “somewhere in the 9% range is probably a reasonable guess.”
A 9% bump would add about $150 on average to checks every month.
How To Apply For Social Security Disability Benefits
More than 8 million Americans receive disability payments from the Social Security Administration, mostly through Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI.
To qualify for SSDI, you must be diagnosed with an injury or condition that prevents you from working for at least a year or is expected to result in death.
Another form of disability benefit is Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, which is funded by the Treasury Department and aimed at individuals whose financial resources are below specified limits.
Applicants for both programs need to present substantial evidence to support a disability claim and the process can take a considerable amount of time, usually involving an in-person or phone interview.
Here’s what you need to know to apply for Social Security disability benefits, including what is available and what conditions qualify.
For more on Social Security, find out when checks go out, how to access your benefits online and how retirement benefits are calculated.
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How Big Will The Social Security Cola Be For 2023
There is a variety of estimates floating around. Some experts say the 2023 Social Security COLA could be as high as 10%. Something more around 9% is probably more likely. Either way, this could be the largest Social Security COLA since 1981.
When you are retired on a fixed income, every penny counts. A large Social Security Cost of Living … Adjustment could help ease the pain from inflation on retirees budgets.
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Factors That Affect How Much You’ll Get In Retirement
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Most retirees rely on Social Security. One in four gets 90% of their retirement income from the program. About half rely on it for 50% of their income.
Although Social Security is only one part of a secure retirement plan, it’s helpful to get a rough idea of how much you can expect. If you’re eligible for Social Security, your monthly benefit is based on two factors:
- How much money you earned during your working career
- The age you choose to start getting payments
Let’s look at how each of these affects your future Social Security income.
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What Else Affects Your Retirement Benefits
Everyones retirement is unique. Beyond deciding when to begin receiving retirement benefits, other factors that can affect your benefits include whether you continue to work, what type of job you had, and if you have a pension from certain jobs.
Continuing To Work
You can choose to keep working beyond your full retirement age. If you do, you can increase your future Social Security benefits. Each extra year you work adds another year of earnings to your Social Security record. Higher lifetime earnings can mean higher benefits when you choose to receive benefits.
Specific Types Of Earnings
While Social Security earnings are calculated the same way for most American workers, there are some types of earnings that have additional rules.
Earning types with special rules include:
Pensions And Other Factors
Pensions and taxes have the potential to impact your retirement benefit. Review the resources below on pensions and other factors you should consider:
- Windfall Elimination Provision : If you have a pension from a job for which you didnt pay Social Security taxes, this policy may lower your retirement benefits.
- Government Pension Offset : This policy affects benefits as a spouse, widow, or widower if you have a pension from a government job for which you didnt pay Social Security taxes.
- Income Taxes And Your Social Security Benefits: You might have to pay federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits in certain situations.
What Happens If I Work And Get Social Security Retirement Benefits
You can get Social Security retirement benefits and work at the same time. However, if you are younger than full retirement age and make more than the yearly earnings limit, we will reduce your benefit. Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, we will not reduce your benefits no matter how much you earn.
- We use the following earnings limits to reduce your benefits: If you are under full retirement age for the entire year, we deduct $1 from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit.
For 2022 that limit is $19,560.
- In the year you reach full retirement age, we deduct $1 in benefits for every $3 you earn above a different limit, but we only count earnings before the month you reach your full retirement age.
If you will reach full retirement age in 2022, the limit on your earnings for the months before full retirement age is $51,960.
Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, you can get your benefits with no limit on your earnings.
Use our Retirement Age Calculator to find your full retirement age based on your date of birth.
Use our Retirement Earnings Test Calculator to find out how much your benefits will be reduced.
What counts as earnings:
Your benefits may increase when you work:
When youre ready to apply for retirement benefits, use our online retirement application, the quickest, easiest, and most convenient way to apply.
If you need to report a change in your earnings after you begin receiving benefits:
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Get Ahead By Linkedin News
In Brief: Proactively prepare how you will live comfortably in your senior years, whether it be from your retirement savings, other investments, Social Security benefits or continuing in the workforce. Ask yourself what your why is for taking a job post retirement this will help you decide what job is the best match for your skills, passion and retirement goals. There are many great jobs for retirees, including consulting or independent contracting, education, admin work, roles in the medical field, and working with a local non-profit.
Maybe youre already in your senior years and are planning for retirement in the next five years. Like many in the U.S., you have worked roughly 40 years of your life and have earned some much-need relaxation and travel time. You hope youre able to retire comfortably, according to plan and maybe even take a part-time job to supplement your retirement savings and social security retirement benefits.
If you just graduated college and started your career, why should you care now about your post-retirement plans?
I Have Never Accessed Mysocial Security And I Do Not Have A Logingov Or Idme Credential:
Visit www.ssa.gov/myaccount to get started. You will have the option to create an account with our preferred credential partner, Login.gov. You can also access your information with an ID.me account if you have one. Keep in mind:
- You must be 18 years of age or older, have a Social Security number and a U.S. mailing address.
- You will be redirected to the partners website when you select Sign In with Login.gov or Sign in with ID.me.
- You must provide a valid email address and some additional information.
- Once you create the credential, you will return to the mySocial Security webpage for next steps.
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Benefits For Your Divorced Spouse
If you are divorced, your ex-spouse can receive benefits based on your record if:
- Your marriage lasted 10 years or longer.
- Your ex-spouse is unmarried.
- Your ex-spouse is age 62 or older.
- The benefit that your ex-spouse is entitled to receive based on their own work is less than the benefit they would receive based on your work.
- You are entitled to Social Security retirement or disability benefits.
Are You Eligible For Social Security
To be eligible for Social Security benefits, you must earn at least 40 credits over your working career. How those credits are calculated is complex, but you will likely qualify if you have worked for at least 10 years.
You may be entitled to a spousal benefit because of your partner’s work history. If your spouse, ex-spouse, or deceased spouse has earned 40 credits, you may qualify. The Social Security Administration provides more info about this option.
But your work history is not only used as part of the qualification criteria it is also used to figure out the amount of your payment. In calculating your monthly retirement benefit, the SSA considers your highest-earning 35 years of work history. If you worked for less than 35 years, the SSA will use zero for some years.
The higher your earnings over those 35 years, the greater your contribution to the program through FICA taxes, and the higher your benefit will be.
The same threshold applies to both your earnings and your benefits. This amount is $142,800 in 2021, and it will raise to $147,000 for the 2022 tax year.
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What Conditions Qualify For Social Security Disability Insurance
There is no set list of approved disabilities, but the Social Security Blue Book, also known as Disability Evaluation Under Social Security, is an online directory of physical and mental health conditions that automatically qualify if you meet the stringent requirements for diagnosis.
For adults, they are broadly split into 14 categories.
- Blood disorders like sickle cell anemia, thrombosis and hemophilia
- Cancer, including Leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, breast cancer and prostate cancer
- Cardiovascular illnesses, such as congenital heart disease and heart failure
- Cognitive andmental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, dementia, depression and intellectual disabilities
- Congenital disorders that affect multiple body systems, such as non-mosaic Down syndrome
- Digestive system illnesses, such as bowel or liver disease
- Endocrine disorders, such as diabetes, thyroid disease, hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia
- Genitourinary disorders like chronic kidney disease
- Immune system diseases like HIV, inflammatory arthritis and lupus
- Musculoskeletal issues that are congenital or acquired, such as spinal disorders or amputations
- Neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injuries
- Respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Special sense and speech disorders, such as impaired hearing, sight and speech
- Skin disorders, such as burns, dermatitis and ichthyosis
What’s The Difference Between Social Security Disability Insurance And Supplemental Security Income
Both SSDI and SSI pay benefits to people that the Social Security Administration determines have physical or mental disabilities severe enough to prevent them from engaging in “substantial gainful activity” for at least a year or that are expected to end in their death.
The Social Security Administration generally uses the same medical criteria to determine if a disability entitles an adult to SSDI or SSI and collecting both benefits is allowed.
SSDI is an earned benefit. As with retirement benefits, it comes from paying Social Security taxes during the course of your employment. In 2022, the estimated average monthly SSDI benefit was $1,358.
There’s a five-month waiting period for SSDI benefits, so payments will not begin before the sixth full month of disability. You’ll be eligible for Medicare coverage after you’ve received disability benefits for two years.
SSI, meanwhile, is aimed at disabled Americans with very limited income or assets. It doesn’t come from previous earnings. In fact, you can receive SSI benefits if you’ve never worked or paid Social Security tax.
But your income and assets must not go above very strict caps: In 2022, the maximum federal SSI payment was $841 a month for an individual and $1,261 for couples receiving SSI jointly. Income above those amounts can make you ineligible to receive benefits.
Other benefits, including workers compensation and pension payments, can also impact how much you receive.
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Check The Status Of Your Social Security Benefits Now
Social Security benefits are designed to replace roughly 40% of your income, calculated by taking the average of your monthly earnings over your most lucrative 35 working years and adjusting for inflation.
The amount you receive fluctuates depending on when you claim your benefits. For those born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is currently 67. You can elect to receive benefits as early as 62, but retiring early could result in a ding of up to 30% in the amount of your benefit.
If you delay retirement past your full retirement age, you’ll receive an 8% annual boost to your payout until your benefit maxes out at 70.
Depending on your financial situation, it can make sense to take Social Security earlier or later. But regardless of when you retire, it’s key to ensure that you’re getting the maximum benefit that you qualify for. And that means making sure the Social Security Administration has your numbers straight now.
“Make sure you’re getting all of your years counted,” says Foulks. “Every year, I check my earnings record to make sure they’re appropriately counting my income.”
The earnings listed for a given year should match your total pre-tax income. Mistakes might arise if you changed jobs or started working partway through the year, Foulks says.
In other words, stay on top of this now, or you could find yourself having to dig up 20-year-old W-2s somewhere down the line.
