Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from November 2, 2011

How to Maximize Social Security Benefits

How to Maximize Social Security Benefits - In 1935, the U.S. established Social Security, motivated by the Great Depression. Approximately, two-thirds of U.S. retirees count on the mandated supplemental retirement program for most of their retirement income, which sustains them for the remainder of their lives and keeps them out of poverty. The government funds this mandated program through payroll taxes, collecting a percentage of paychecks automatically for the Social Security fund. This provides benefits to retirees and current Social Security recipients. You can apply for as much as 50 percent of your spouse's social security benefit payout if your spouse's benefit is higher than yours. You can gain from this provision when one spouse never worked outside the home or when one spouse has lower earnings than the other. The lower-earning spouse can receive 50 percent of the spouse's benefit when the spouse reaches full retirement age. How to Maximize Social Security B...