People finally retire after contributing to the social security pool for decades. After all the hard work, it’s important to get as much as you can without missing anything.
It’s important to know the ins and outs of retirement and social security before actually retiring and claiming it to avoid mistakes that could cost you money.
So what are the most important things to know before claiming social security during retirement?
You need to do the math before claiming. Social security requires “credits” and you need 40 in order to claim benefits.
4 credits per year can be earned and benefits are calculated using the average of your 35 highest earned years.
If there are less than 35 years then $0 is used in place of the remaining years. So if you only worked for 29 years, your salary for each of those 29 years would be averaged with 6 years of $0.
Before claiming make sure your have 35 years, and if you don’t try to work a few more years.
Make sure if you’re married you’re working together on your social security plans for the future together.
A spouse that earns lower wages may start claiming benefits based on the higher earning spouse’s income at their full retirement age.
The higher earning spouse could wait to claim benefits in order to increase their credits.
A financial advisor can help.
It’s also important to remember to plan on taxes, because SSI is taxable income.
Up to 85% of benefits can be subject to federal income taxes.
In order to determine the percentage of benefits that can be taxed, it depends on combined income, non-taxable interest, and half your benefits.
By planning and speaking to a financial advisor, you can be sure to not pay the IRS more than you should.
Related: Follow these tips to not pay tax on social security benefits
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