![Social Security for Dummies - Paperback | Diverse Reads](http://diversereads.com/cdn/shop/files/img_3e186124-338a-4e55-8934-f87685e1e244_319x400.jpg?v=1708194522)
Social Security for Dummies
- Description
- Product Details
- About the Author
- Table of Contents
"Social Security for Dummies is a must read for people of any age who want a comfortable retirement. ... The difference between a smart claiming strategy and a dumb one can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars, so you'll want to invest in this book."
--Liz Weston, personal finance columnist and author of the bestselling Your Credit Score and
The 10 Commandments of Money
Claim the benefits you've earned
The award-winning Social Security For Dummies--now in its fourth edition-- is the one guide you need to navigate the often-complex world of Social Security benefits. You'll learn when to start claiming, how much you can expect to receive, where to find Social Security calculators, and more.
Since 1937, workers across the United States have set aside a portion of their wages to fund Social Security, which, for many of us, forms the basis of our retirement income. Despite its central importance in our lives, few of us understand how Social Security really works. That's where Social Security For Dummies comes in. Written in an easy-to-follow, clear language, it provides comprehensive information on how to negotiate the sometimes labyrinthine system and claim everything you qualify for. You'll learn how to:
- Navigate the Social Security website
- Know which options you qualify for
- Use Social Security calculators
- Get answers to frequently asked questions
Retirement is the time for you to kick back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of your labors--Social Security For Dummies makes it easier.
Praise for Social Security For Dummies
"Social Security for Dummies is a must read for people of any age who want a comfortable retirement. Jonathan Peterson does a great job of explaining this complicated system and helps you understand how to get the most from the benefits you've earned. The difference between a smart claiming strategy and a dumb one can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars, so you'll want to invest in this book."
--Liz Weston, personal finance columnist and author of The Ten Commandments of Money
"This is your go-to book on Social Security. Chock-full of useful tips, easy to use, and well organized, it answers all your questions about Social Security."
--Steve Vernon, author of Money for Life: Turn Your IRA and 401(k) Into a Lifetime Retirement Paycheck and CBS MoneyWatch commentator
"Social Security for Dummies is indispensable for anyone who wants to get the best possible deal from Social Security -- and that means all of us, young and old, because everyone will need Social Security benefits in this era of disappearing pensions and dwindling savings. Strategies for single people, for married couples, for survivors, for divorced people: You can find expert advice on all these subjects and more in this easy-to-understand guide to a very complex subject."
-- Bob Rosenblatt, editor of HelpwithAging.com and Senior Fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance
ISBN-13: 9781119689928
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Wiley
Publication Date: 10-27-2020
Pages: 336
Product Dimensions: 7.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Series: For Dummies Books
Jonathan Peterson is a former executive communications director at AARP and an award-winning journalist. His interest in Social Security began when he covered the political debate that led to major reforms in 1983. He is a former economics and politics correspondent for the Los Angeles Times.
Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 3 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 4 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1 Getting Started with Social Security 5 Chapter 1 What Social Security Is and Why You Need It 7 Understanding What Social Security Means for You 8 Benefits for retirees 9 Benefits for children 10 Benefits for survivors 11 Benefits for the disabled and their dependents 11 Appraising the Value of Social Security 12 Understanding How You Pay for Social Security 14 How much you pay 14 Where your money goes 15 Getting the Most Out of Your Social Security Benefits 16 Getting in Touch with the Social Security Administration 17 Chapter 2 A Breakdown of Benefits 19 Bringing Security to Old Age: Retirement Benefits 20 Who qualifies and when 20 How you qualify 22 How much you get 22 Surviving the Loss of a Breadwinner 28 Who qualifies 28 How much you get 31 How benefits are earned 35 Paying Your Bills When You Can't Work: Disability Benefits 36 Who qualifies 36 How you qualify 37 How much you get 37 When the Need Is Great: Supplemental Security Income 38 Chapter 3 Deciding When to Start Collecting Retirement Benefits 39 Paying Attention to Your Full Retirement Age 40 Determining your full retirement age 40 Estimating how much you'll get each month based on when you retire 41 Looking at Life Expectancy When You Claim Benefits 45 Doing a break-even analysis: The payoff from different retirement dates 45 Considering what'll happen if you live longer than you expect 47 Considering Your Spouse When You Claim Social Security 50 Recognizing the Potential Payoff of Working Later in Life 52 Putting It All Together: The Right Time to Begin Collecting Benefits 53 Chapter 4 Protecting Your Number and Securing Your Card 57 Getting a Social Security Number 57 For U.S. citizens 58 For noncitizens 59 Managing Your Social Security Card 63 If your card is lost or damaged 64 If your name changes 64 Protecting Yourself by Protecting Your Number 66 Protecting your identity 66 Knowing what to do if scammers get your number 69 Part 2 Taking the Plunge: Filing for Social Security 73 Chapter 5 Signing Up for Benefits 75 When to Apply for Social Security Benefits 75 Where to Apply for Social Security Benefits 76 Online 77 In person 78 By phone 78 How to Apply for Social Security Benefits 79 Retirement benefits 79 Survivor benefits 82 Disability benefits 84 Supplemental Security Income benefits 85 How You Get Your Money: The Check Is Not in the Mail 86 Chapter 6 Determining How Much You've Earned 89 Your Social Security Statement 90 How to access it 90 How to understand it 91 Social Security Calculators 92 Social Security's own tools 93 AARP's Social Security calculator 95 Other online calculators 97 Chapter 7 Navigating the System 99 Being a Smart Consumer of Social Security 100 Keeping good records 100 Making sense of the correspondence you get from Social Security 101 Making (and showing up for) appointments 101 Getting the Answers and Help You Need 102 Finding answers online 102 Having someone on your side when you deal with Social Security 105 Life Happens: Keeping the Social Security Administration in the Loop 107 Setting the (Earnings) Record Straight 110 Halting Your Retirement Benefits 112 Recovering a Lost or Stolen Social Security Check 113 Getting Dinged for an Overpayment 114 Getting Social Security in a Global Economy 115 U.S. citizens 116 Noncitizens 117 Registering a Complaint with the Social Security Administration 118 Chapter 8 When You and Social Security Disagree: The Appeals Process 123 Reconsideration: Taking Your First Step 124 Deciding whether to file a request for reconsideration 126 Taking the steps to file 128 Going to an Administrative Law Judge to Solve Your Problem 130 Requesting a hearing 130 Preparing for your hearing 132 Participating in your hearing 133 Knowing What to Expect from the Appeals Council 135 Taking Your Claim to Federal Court 138 Part 3 Who Benefits and When 141 Chapter 9 Spousal Benefits: Watching Out for Each Other 143 Who Qualifies and Who Doesn't 144 Traditional spouses 145 Same-sex spouses 145 Common-law spouses 146 Divorced spouses 146 Widows and widowers 147 How Much You Can Expect to Get 149 How to Maximize Your Benefits 151 Maximizing your lifetime benefits as a married couple 153 Getting the biggest benefit possible for your surviving spouse 154 Chapter 10 Family Benefits: Who Gets What 157 Defining Who's in the Family 158 Spouses 158 Parents or grandparents 159 Natural children 160 Adopted children 161 Stepchildren 161 Grandchildren 162 Parents of a worker 162 Identifying the Benefits Family Members Are Eligible For 162 Dependent children under 18 162 Dependent children 18 and over 163 Disabled adult children 163 Grandchildren 163 Parents of a worker 164 Looking at How Having a "Child in Care" May Affect Your Own Benefits 164 Understanding the Family Maximum 166 Counting on Kids' Benefits When Parents Live Apart 169 Managing Benefits on Behalf of a Child 171 Chapter 11 When You Can't Work: Social Security Disability Benefits 173 The Two Types of Disability Benefits 174 Social Security Disability Insurance 175 Supplemental Security Income 181 How Social Security Defines Disability 182 Are you working for money? 182 Do you have a severe medical problem? 183 Is your disability on "the list"? 184 Can you perform the tasks required by your former job or a similar job? 185 Can you do any other available work in the economy? 186 How to Make Your Case 187 Cutting through the red tape 188 Gathering the best medical evidence: The role of your doctor 190 Getting help 191 Showing that you've tried to solve your problem 192 Telling the truth 193 What to Do If You Get Turned Down 194 What Happens to Your Benefit If You Can Go Back to Work 194 Part 4 Social Security and Your Future 197 Chapter 12 Enrolling in Medicare 199 Understanding the ABCs (and D) of Medicare 200 Part A Hospital insurance 200 Part B Medical insurance 201 Part C Medicare Advantage 202 Part D Prescription-drug coverage 203 Qualifying for Medicare 204 Signing Up for Medicare 206 Deciding what parts to enroll in 206 Keeping track of the enrollment periods 209 Knowing your options for applying for Medicare 212 Paying Premiums 212 Getting Hit with Late Fees 214 Part A 214 Part B 214 Part C 215 Part D 215 Buying Extra Insurance: Medigap 216 Getting Financial Help If You Need It 217 Extra Help for Part D 218 Medicaid 218 Medicare savings programs 218 Pharmaceutical assistance programs 218 Programs of Ail-Inclusive Care for the Elderly 219 State pharmaceutical assistance programs 219 State health insurance assistance programs 219 Chapter 13 Working in "Retirement" 221 The Pros and Cons of Not Retiring at Retirement Age 222 Facing the challenges of working later in life 222 Reaping the benefits of working later in life 224 The Earnings Test: How Your Payments Are Calculated When You Work 225 How the earnings limit works 225 How exceeding the limit may cost your family 227 How the earnings test affects benefits 228 Getting a break for your first months of retirement 229 Reporting earnings to the Social Security Administration 231 When You Go Back to Work after Retirement 234 Special Considerations for the Self-Employed 235 Tax deductions 236 Work credits 236 Earnings limit 237 Reporting requirements 237 Uncle Sam Giveth and Taketh Away: How Benefits Are Taxed 238 Chapter 14 Shaping a Financial Future You Can Live With 241 Envisioning Your Life with Social Security 242 Figuring out how much money you need 242 Determining how much income you need 243 Narrowing the gap between too little income and too much spending 244 Working with a financial professional 246 Preparing for Life on Social Security 247 Purchasing an annuity 248 Signing up for Medicare 249 Handling home equity 250 Getting long-term-care insurance 251 Understanding how Social Security interacts with private pensions 251 Managing your investments 252 Part 5 The Part of Tens 253 Chapter 15 Ten Myths about Social Security 255 Myth: Social Security Is a Ponzi Scheme 256 Myth: Your Social Security Number Has a Racial Code in It 257 Myth: Members of Congress Don't Pay into the System 257 Myth: Social Security Is Going Broke 258 Myth: The Social Security Trust Funds Are Worthless 259 Myth: You'd Be Better Off Investing in Stocks 259 Myth: Undocumented Immigrants Make Illegal Social Security Claims 261 Myth: When Social Security Started, People Didn't Even Live to 65 261 Myth: Congress Keeps Pushing Benefits Higher than Intended 262 Myth: Older Folks Are Greedy Geezers Who Don't Need All Their Social Security 263 Chapter 16 Ten Reasons Young People Should Care about Social Security 265 If You're Lucky, You'll Be Old Someday 266 Your Parents Will Be Old Even Sooner 266 You're Paying into the System Now 267 You Benefit When Social Security Keeps People Out of Poverty 267 You May Need Benefits Sooner than You Think 268 Social Security Ensures That Time Doesn't Eat Away at Your Benefit 269 Social Security Benefits Are One Thing You Can Hang Your Hat On 270 The System Works 270 The Alternatives Are Worse 271 Life Is Risky 272 Chapter 17 Ten Choices Facing the Country about the Future of Social Security 273 Whether to Increase the Earnings Base 274 Whether to Cover More Workers 274 Whether to Raise Taxes 275 Whether to Cut Benefits 276 Whether to Modify the Inflation Formula 276 Whether to Raise the Full Retirement Age 277 How to Treat Women More Fairly 278 Whether to Divert People's Taxes to Private Accounts 279 Whether to Create a Minimum Benefit 279 Whether to Give a Bonus for Longevity 280 Part 6 Appendixes 281 Appendix A Glossary 283 Appendix B Resources 291 Social Security 291 Medicare 292 AARP 293 Other Sources 294 Appendix C Strengthening Social Security 297 Index 301Table of Contents