How to Retire from a Large Corporation #4: Social Security. How to Get the Numbers

David Larson |
Categories

Are you like many people we know in Harrisonburg and in Rockingham County who are excited about their retirement years, but are overwhelmed by the complexity and all of the numbers in front of you? When should you draw Social Security? How much will healthcare cost? How much will you actually spend in retirement? 

All these numbers are important and you should absolutely get a handle on them as you get closer to the date; but do not get overwhelmed with the complexity of the task. The goal is to stay focused on the big picture and break down three key numbers into smaller nuggets.

This blog is the fourth in a series, “How to Retire from a Large Corporation” and is designed to accompany an e-book by the same name.

For many people, Social Security can represent anywhere from 30-70% of the income that will come into their bank account each month when they retire. Many people do not have an accurate estimate of how much they will receive. Once you have accurate estimates for you and your spouse, when should you file? How likely is it that your benefits will get cut at some point? These are all good questions, and to address them, we must first determine your benefit at “full retirement age.” Here is how you do it:

First, go to www.socialsecurity.gov and create an account in just a few minutes. From there, you can see your earnings history and generate a PDF that shows you how much your benefit will be at age 62, at “full retirement age” (67 for many people), and at age 70. Print out this document and save it in a Retirement folder on your computer. Do the same with your spouse, if you are married.

Check back next time as we dive deeper into Social Security and if you would like to download the full eBook you can find it here.

This is the fourth of many blogs we are writing to help you finish strong in life. Much of the content is pulled from an eBook we wrote entitled “How to Retire from a Large Corporation.” Click here to download the document. If you would like to discuss any of these topics in more detail, you can schedule a time to talk through this link.