‘It’s smart to collect benefits as soon as you can.’
So-called experts cite a couple of reasons why you should believe this. Even if you don’t need the money for living expenses, they say, you could invest it and make even more money. They also ominously predict that benefits will disappear altogether someday.
You can take Social Security starting at age 62, but claiming early is not a smart strategy for most people. Early birds get only 75% of what they would at age 66, and the reduction can be permanent. People who hold out until age 70 collect the biggest payments.
Yes, Congress may scale back the program, but lawmakers would likely keep benefits at the existing levels for people who are already in or near retirement.
4 thoughts on “12 Myths About Social Security Finally Debunked”
when i die will my wife collect my ss
I am a 65 year old male that will be eligible for social security in a few months. My wife of 43+ years is drawing teacher retirement after a 35 year career. As we understand it, she will not be eligible for any of my survivor SS benefits or any of her own SS earnings. She has worked many, many hours of SS paying jobs during her college days, summers off and in the 5 or so years since her retirement from teaching. Do we understand this correctly and, if so, is there any course of action we can take to change that?
VJ, Bishop, TX
yOU HAVE ANSWERED SOME QUESTIONS I HAD. THANKS
When my husband recently passed, I was unaware that I could get his social security which was three times the amount than mine. After being told to go after his social security amount instead of mine, I went back to ask for his and now I’m dealing with a very slow system. I’ve been to the social security office three times this week already and still no change in my benefits to collect my husbands benefits.I have been to two different social security offices and nothing is happening. They keep promising the change will take time, but I wonder if will ever happen. What else can I do that I haven’t already done?