amount via employment without any longevity, age discrepancies between boro. Securities offered through Royal
reduction in Social Security benefits. spouses, investment or other income, Alliance Associates, Inc., member FIN-
earned income, health insurance, taxa- RA/SIPC. Advisory services offered
“Borrowing” from Social Security and tion levels, and so on. through Triad Financial Advisors, Inc., a
Paying Back with No Interest A good, credentialed, independent Registered Investment Advisor. See ad on
financial planner can be invaluable in page 37.
Some retirees opt to claim Social helping you organize the issues, find op-
Security benefits at age 62, then reclaim portunities, and simplify your decision-
again at a later date. If they pay back the making process.
money they received during the interim
– with no interest charged – they can Submitted by Susan Rizzi, CERTIFIED
receive the higher benefit level. FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional
Why would you do this? It’s essen- with Triad Financial Advisors, Inc., 333
tially like getting a free loan from Social North Greene Street, Suite 506, Greens-
Security. If you take the money you re-
ceive in benefits starting at age 62 and
invest it wisely, you could come out
ahead, even after paying back the amount
of Social Security paid to you between
age 62 and your FRA. Why? Because your
investment of the Social Security benefit
you “borrowed” might have yielded earn-
ings.
Getting Smart about Spousal Benefits
One of the most underappreciated
benefits of Social Security is the spousal
benefit. When the primary wage earner
in a married couple begins claiming So-
cial Security, his or her spouse – even one
with minimal or no earnings of their own
– has the option of claiming their own
benefit based on their earning record or
half of the primary earner’s benefit,
whichever is higher.
An interesting claiming strategy is for
the higher earner of the two to claim
Social Security, but suspend payment so
his or her spouse can begin claiming
spousal benefits. In this scenario, the
lower earning spouse begins receiving
Social Security benefits, while the higher
earner’s benefit value continues to rise.
The higher earner then resumes payment
of his or her own benefits (at a higher
value) at a later date.
Getting Good Advice about Retirement
No one answer fits every hopeful
retiree. Strategies aside, the real deter-
mining factor is whether you need the
money as soon as possible, or whether
you can wait. Other factors that enter the
complex retirement equation include
FEBRUARY 2010
41
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