Social Security

Social Security retirement benefits can be considered an inflation-adjusted life annuity. Therefore it has a close connection to withdrawal strategies during retirement, as well as immediate annuities.

The best source of information about Social Security can be found at the site social security on-line. The site has convenient links to the primary concerns of the average citizen which include:


 * 1) Your Social Security records
 * 2) Retirement
 * 3) Medicare
 * 4) Disability & SSI
 * 5) Widows, widowers & other survivors
 * 6) Get help with your situation

Details on how the retirement benefit is computed can be found at Your Retirement Benefit: How It Is Figured.

Planning Social Security benefits
Under the rules of Social Security, your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) = the benefit you receive in the month of your Full Retirement Age (FRA).

For each month that you begin before this date, you reduce your PIA by 5/9 of 1 %. So if your FRA is 66, which, lets say, you reach in December 09, and you elect to begin your benefit in, say, June 09, then the reduction to your PIA would be 6 X 5/9 = -3.33%. This monthly reduction rate occurs for the first 36 months that you begin prior to your FRA. For months > 36, its 5/12 of 1%/month. The only other factors that would change the 5/9% reduction would be if the individual has earned income in the previous year, as the PIA will not include this, and the annual inflation adjuster for the new year.

If you delay starting your retirement or old-age benefit past FRA, you earn Delayed Retirement Credits and get a larger benefit. Wife, husband, widow, and widower benefits are also reduced if started before FRA (using different formulas), but are not increased by waiting past FRA to start.

Social Security is unisex and roughly actuarially fair. If you are a single unisex person of average health, it doesn't matter when you take it. There is a rough trade-off between fewer dollars for more years (start early) and more dollars for fewer years (start late).

Since females outlive males on average, single males will live fewer years than a unisex person and should take it earlier; single females will live more years than a unisex person and should take it later.

Since widows and widowers get the greater of their own benefit and their deceased spouse's benefit, married couples have to consider their joint life. A high earning male with a low earning wife should wait to collect the higher benefit, not because he will live long enough to make up for what he gives up by not starting early, but because his wife will.

All benefits are subject to the earnings test if you are under Full Retirement Age. Your benefits will be reduced depending on your earnings for the year. Your wife (husband) may also have her wife (his husband) benefits that are based on your work record reduced by your earnings. The earnings test does not apply once you reach Full Retirement Age.

Here is a concrete question from the forums that shows the potential complexity of Social Security planning:

''Wife and I are same age, 62 this summer. Her SS that she qualifies for on her own is about half mine. The wrinkle is she still is working. Her 35 highest years have a lot of zeros, so each year she works will replace a zero. I am retired and when I turn 62 my pension drops by more than half, called a level income option because it assume SS will be started at 62. We need to make up some of the income lost by the drop in pension. Wife contributes 1000 per month to her 401(k) so we can stop that. Having her file for SS as the link suggests might be an option but she plans to work to age 66. Her salary is very modest but her job provides us health benefits. Do you think this "Team Play" technique would work for us or does it assume both spouses are not working?''

The full answer:

The Team Play described assumes neither is working at 62. There are several issues for you to consider.

Her own benefits: If your wife is going to continue to work for the health benefits, then it doesn't make sense for her to apply for her own benefits before age 66 if she makes much more than $20,000. The earnings limit for 2009 is $14,160 - for every $2 over the limit, $1 is withheld from benefits. If her benefit at age 62 would be $800 a month ($9,600 a year), she would get to keep none of her social security if she makes $33,360 ($19,200 over the limit - benefits reduced by $9,600).

Spousal benefits: When you reach 66, you can either file or file and suspend. Your wife can then apply for wife's benefits on your record. At 66, she will get half of your PIA (age 66 benefit) if her own PIA is a lesser amount. If your PIA is $1,800 a month and hers is $800, she can get $900 as a wife. If hers is $1,000, she won't get a wife's benefit, but she will get her own $1,000 (this assumes that she starts benefits at 66 - it is possible for her to delay her own benefits while collecting spousal benefits). Since she is still working and replacing some of those zero years, she may well end up with a PIA greater than 1/2 of yours (in spite of your statement that her benefit is about 1/2 of yours, that may not be true after her additional earnings are included in her calculation). You however, could follow part of the team play plan. When your wife applies for her own benefits at age 66, you can apply for your husband's benefit while delaying your own benefit. If her benefit is $800, you could get $400 at age 66 as her husband. By not taking your $1,800 at 66, you will increase the amount you eventually get at 70 (assuming you delay the maximum).

Some basic rules about eligibility

 * If you apply for your own benefit before your Full Retirement Age and you are eligible for a spousal benefit at that time, you are presumed or deemed to have applied for a wife or husband's benefit at the same time.
 * If you apply for a wife or husband's benefit before your Full Retirement Age and you are eligible for a spousal benefit at that time, you are presumed or deemed to have applied for your own benefit at the same time.
 * You are entitled to a benefit if you are eligible and apply.
 * You can suspend your old-age (retirement) benefit and earn Delayed Retirement Credits if you are Full Retirement Age.
 * If you suspend your old-age benefit, you remain entitled to it even if no payments are made.
 * You are eligible for a wife or husband's benefit if your spouse is entitled to old-age or disability benefits and
 * 1) You have been married for a year (or other special cases),
 * 2) You are 62 or have in care a child under 16 receiving child's benefits based on your spouse's record,
 * 3) You are not entitled to an old-age or disability benefit based on a primary insurance amount that is equal to 1/2 or more of your spouse's.
 * You can withdraw your application within 12 months of your original entitlement:
 * 1) You must pay back all benefits receive by you or your family that depend on the application.
 * 2) You must get the consent of anyone receiving benefits based on the application, e.g., your spouse.
 * 3) You can only withdraw one application in your lifetime.

Some computational and payment details
(taken from the POMS)
 * Benefits are rounded down to the nearest dollar.
 * All reductions and credits are computed using fractions, not percents. Someone who starts a retirement benefit 6 months early will have a reduction of 6 X 5/9% or 30/900 = 1/30.  For a PIA of $1723.40, the benefit would be 1723.4 X 29/30 = 1665.95 rounded down to the nearest whole dollar or $1665.  Using a reduction of 3.33% would give an answer of 1723.4 X 96.67% = 1666.01, which would seem to yield a benefit of $1666 a month. This is incorrect.
 * The COLA is computed in percents to one decimal place, e.g., the 2009 COLA was 5.8%. The COLA is applied to your PIA, not your benefit.
 * When the PIA is computed, it is rounded down to the nearest $0.10. For example, when a COLA of 5.8% is applied to a PIA of $1723.40, the new PIA is 1723.4 X 1.058 = 1823.36 rounded down to 1823.30.  With a reduction of 1/30 for starting a retirement benefit 6 months early, the new benefit will be 1823.3 X 29/30 = 1762.52 rounded down to $1762.  The actual increase in the retirement benefit is (1762 - 1665) / 1665 = 5.826%.  With another PIA, the benefit could go up slightly less  than 5.8%.
 * If you delay retirement past your full retirement age, the delayed credits are applied in January of the following year or in the month of attainment of age 70 if applicable. For example, if your full retirement age is 66 and you apply for retirement benefits on your birthday in March at age 68, your initial benefit will include 22 months of delayed credits.  The additional 2 months of delayed credits for January and February will be applied the following January.
 * Benefits are paid in the month following the month earned. In a year with a COLA, the COLA is used to compute the December benefit paid in January.  Thus the 2009 COLA, while based on the increase in CPI-W from the third quarter of 2007 to the third quarter of 2008 and applied to the December 2008 benefit, is referred to as the 2009 COLA since it first showed up in the January 2009 benefit payment.

Taxation
The tax aspects of Social Security benefits are laid out in IRS Publication 915 (2006), Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits.

Social Security application
Although Social Security generally says you can submit your application up to 3 months before you want to begin benefits, you may request benefits to start the month of filing, a month in the past (see retroactive benefits below), or up to 4 months in the future. This request is called the "Month of Election". Benefits start the "Month of Entitlement", defined as the month in which an individual has filed an application and Social Security has confirmed that age and earnings requirements have been met. Benefits are then paid the following month, based on your birth date for applications since 1997. If your benefits start in April, you will receive your first benefit payment in May.

Applications may be online (recommended by the Social Security Administration), by phone (1-800-772-1213 or TTY 1-800-325-0778), or in person at your local Social Security office.

The following sections on Retroactive payments and restricted applications, Deemed filing, and Voluntary suspension are based on the many Forum contributions of Mike Piper, Oblivious Investor.

Retroactive payments
For Social Security retirement applications filed after full retirement age (FRA), a retroactive lump sum benefit back to FRA or a maximum of six months is available.

Forum threads have discussed the possibility of an unwanted lump sum and reduced monthly benefits from Social Security's use of a retroactive entitlement date after FRA. To make sure that you receive all the delayed retirement credits you expect, your application should restrict its scope with "unequivocal" statements to make your intentions clear:

Sample statements to include in the application comments section would be: "'I wish to receive my maximum benefit, including all delayed retirement credits to age 70. I do not wish to receive any retroactive payments based on a retirement age earlier than 70.'"

Deemed filing
As of April 30, 2016 the deemed filing rules apply to all applications, even if you have reached full retirement age. If you file for retirement benefits or spouse's benefits and you are also eligible for any other benefits at that time, you will be deemed to have filed for all benefits. This prevents using a restricted application to claim benefits on another's earnings record (e.g., a spouse), while not claiming on your own earnings record.

Also, deemed filing now applies automatically for anyone already receiving benefits when they become eligible for another benefit. Before April 30, 2016 deemed filing applied only when a new application was submitted.

Voluntary suspension
If you are already receiving Retirement Insurance Benefits (RIB) and have reached full retirement age, you can voluntarily suspend them to increase your payments with delayed retirement credits (DRCs). If you change your mind and want the payments to start before age 70, tell Social Security when you want your benefits reinstated (orally or in writing). Your request may include benefits for any months when your payments were suspended, but you will lose DRCs for any retroactive payments. Suspended payments will start automatically the month you reach age 70.

As of April 30, 2016 the following changes apply while your benefits are suspended: These changes, along with the Deemed filing changes above, eliminated the “file and suspend” strategy allowing a spouse to collect spouse's benefits while continuing to earn DRCs on their own earnings record.
 * 1) you cannot receive a benefit based on another’s earnings record, and
 * 2) no one can receive a benefit based on your earnings record.

Forum discussions

 * How the Social Security Administration handles Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs) for the final year
 * Kotlikoff: When Should you Take Social Security?

Articles

 * Social Security Benefits Handbook / What You Want To Know - What You Need To Know A free online version of The Social Security Benefits Handbook by Stanley Tomkiel III
 * The Sample Report at the Maximize My Social Security website has a very extensive written discussion at the end (Understanding Your Options and Our Calculations) covering almost all aspects of Social Security claiming strategies.
 * analyzenow Bud Hebeler's site contains excellent resources on planning social security benefits. The Articles section contains a segment on Social Security where the timing of taking Social Security benefits is considered. The Free Programs section provides Social Security Spreadsheets.
 * Understanding your social security benefits Vanguard Plain Talk Publication on Social Security:
 * The Social Security Claiming Guide Center for Retirement Research, Boston College
 * Innovative Strategies to Help Maximize Social Security Benefits James Mahaney, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, Prudential

Investopedia articles

 * Introduction To Social Security
 * How Much Social Security Will You Get?
 * Ten Common Questions About Social Security
 * Top 6 Myths About Social Security Benefits
 * Maximize Your Social Security Benefits
 * 4 Unusual Ways To Boost Social Security Benefits
 * Avoid The Social Security Tax Trap