Optimizing Social Security Benefits Is Still Complicated

摘要

In Optimizing Social Security Benefits Is Still Complicated, which appeared in the Winter 2019 issue of The Journal of Retirement, William Reichenstein and William Meyer (both of Social Security Solutions, Inc.) explain that despite recent legislative changes to Social Security, deciding when to begin receiving benefits remains a complicated issue. The authors provide 10 scenarios illustrating the complexity of this decision for retirees; these can be categorized as complications regarding oddities of the Social Security system itself, complications regarding simple retirement benefits, and complications regarding additional benefits (e.g., spousal, survivor). The authors detail how each aspect adds to the intricacy of determining when to file for benefits, and provide advice on how to optimize Social Security benefits in each scenario.