Are You or Your Parents Approaching Retirement Age?
Unsure When to Start Your Soc. Sec. Benefits?
Don't Know How to Maximize Your Benefits or How to Coordinate with Your Spouse?
Maximizing Social Security Benefits
The Problem
Social Security rules, especially for married couples, are complicated, and many (if not most) couples make poor decisions, thereby losing tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over their joint lifetimes! Social Security personnel are not equipped, nor allowed, to help you make an informed choice. Articles on the topic and available calculators help, but are generally inadequate for non-experts.
Services
Call us to make sure that your decision is the best one based on your individual circumstances. No charge for the initial call. If warranted, we'll then prepare year by year Social Security benefit illustrations under different scenarios and alternative assumptions, in order for you to make an informed decision, and maximize your benefits. In most cases, we will prepare 3-4 options under two sets of assumptions, then meet with you to review results, all for only a small fraction of the additional benefits you will likely receive.
Contact Us
We also have a 41 page power point presentation that provides a summary of Social Security benefits and a primer on how to maximize benefits (see below). I am available to speak at seminars, meetings or to employee groups.
Michael Karlin, FSA
Social Security Consultant
201-836-6408 or
201-741-7774
Examples
Client A - 4 options prepared, with total projected lifetime benefits ranging from $741,000 to $918,000. With the knowledge of when and how to apply, this client was able to make the best choice and get substantially more in benefits.
Client B - 6 options prepared, with year by year benefit illustrations compared under each option. Client would have retired without taking advantage of spousal benefits. Instead of selecting a choice that would pay $1,267,000 over their lifetimes, they were told how to instead receive a projected $1,504,000.
Client C - age 65 man, wife passed away 15 years ago. Was planning to wait until age 70 to collect his benefit, and wasn't aware that he could collect a survivor benefit from his wife, without affecting his own benefit. Now he will get an extra $60,000 over the next 5 years.
Presentation
Click on the button below to see our current presentation deck. If you want to arrange a speaking engagement on the topic, please contact me.