10 minute read
Maximize Your Social
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WRITTEN BY JOHN KALIL
Many Americans spend their lives working hard and dreaming of one day when they can finally retire. But transitioning into retirement requires more than just dreaming – it means being strategic, especially when trying to determine the best time to collect Social Security retirement benefits.
However, these days it has become increasingly difficult to find information that is relevant in order to make an informed claiming decision. Most of the information found on social media websites or written by the mainstream press can best be described as largely antiquated.
Strategies that once may have made practical sense for a previous generation of retirees, have simply not evolved or kept pace with modern times. Unfortunately, many of these same outdated strategies continue to be regurgitated and in many instances, could potentially cost unsuspecting preretirees thousands of dollars in lost retirement income if this decision is not properly evaluated for the right reasons. It’s important to note, there is no one-size fits all approach to maximizing Social Security benefits as everyone has a unique set of circumstances, many of which may differ. More importantly, traditional views, conventional thinking and societal attitudes concerning retirement and Social Security will require today’s retirees to change their mindset before attempting to collect their benefits.
Consider the following key strategies to maximize your Social Security benefits.
Social Security is hardly an entitlement and could be your single largest asset.
1Contrary to public opinion, Social Security is a legitimate source of future income and should be treated no differently than any other similar asset that would be utilized for retirement. Much like pieces of a puzzle, the timing of when to collect these benefits is critical and requires proper positioning and coordination with all of one’s other retirement assets. This is especially important as Social Security benefits, if properly positioned, can be potentially leveraged with other retirement assets and a combination of various financial instruments to achieve an even greater maximum overall income benefit. According to the website AARP.org, the average Social Security check for 2021 was $1,543 per month which amounts to $18,516 annually. At face value, this may seem like small change for some people. However, when you consider the value of your Social Security benefits, one would need to have an eye-opening $617,200 saved and earning a guaranteed 3% annual interest rate to generate this amount of retirement income. It’s easy to see why Social Security could very well be a person’s most valuable asset next to their home, savings and investments - making this one of the most important financial decisions of a lifetime.
Change your thinking from mortality to longevity.
2For the previous generation of retirees, it may have made good sense to take benefits sooner rather than later based upon a shorter life expectancy. However today, with advances in modern science, medicine and technology, there should be little debate that people are living longer and the time spent in retirement could realistically be 25-30 years. According to the government website SSA. Gov, one in three retirees are expected to live until age 90 and one in seven retirees are expected to live until age 95. This is especially concerning for many retirees as they fear living too long and realistic possibility of outliving their money. Even more concerning are escalating out-of-pocket healthcare costs that have reached unprecedented levels and will more than likely continue to follow this same trend. In the past, yesterday’s private sector workforce was often provided with generous pensions that guaranteed income for life and protected their spouses. Today, those plans have since been replaced by defined contribution style plans whereby the worker is largely responsible for the funding and assumes the majority of the risk - for better or worse, making for a somewhat unpredictable outcome. Similar to a traditional pension, Social Security provides income for life and includes a spousal survivor benefit. For most people, the decision of when to claim benefits should be made on the basis of what their long-term future household income needs may dictate rather than assuming death at an early age or simply collecting benefits because one is newly eligible for them. In fact, if benefits are claimed as early as age 62, one could find themselves at risk for losing potentially thousands in lost future retirement income dollars. On the other hand, if benefits are delayed until age 70, it can mean as much as almost 2/3 more in annual retirement income for the remainder of one’s life.
Determine whether your Social Security benefits will be discretionary or essential
3From the years 2015-2020, I was fortunate to have conducted nearly 5,000 brief interviews with pre-retirees who had attended any one of my 300+ informational seminars that were held in public libraries across upstate New York. What I had observed was completely unanticipated, as I had no idea of what to initially expect. As a result, it became increasing clear that the strategies one would employ to collect their Social Security benefits were driven by completely opposite views. In essence, I had made an unintended and unprecedented breakthrough observation amongst my professional colleagues in the financial services industry. Whereby, all of those in attendance, fell into two separate and distinct categories. For approximately 10% of those in attendance, Social Security benefits would serve as a discretionary source of “extra” retirement income and for approximately 90% of those in attendance, benefits would be required an essential source of “needed” retirement income. In short summary, each category would have required all of the attendees to have had the proper knowledge and prerequisite experience in retirement income planning as well as a full understanding and awareness of the multitude of variables that existed in order for them to have successfully implemented their own personal Social Security claiming strategy without outside help - sure recipe for failure. It’s also worth noting that the majority of my seminars' attendees, were initially unable to determine which category they fell into when asked for a response. Most admitted to needing further assistance in trying to determine the correct response before they could answer the question. Nonetheless, I am truly grateful to have had this firsthand experience which has allowed me to gain tremendous insight and confirm from a sample population just how widespread and misunderstand Social Security has become. More importantly, this experience highlights and further confirms that there is no substitute for professional guidance when one is attempting to collect Social Security benefits on their own. For more information, please visit www.RetirementSolutionsLLC.com. John Kalil, LUTCF, is the Founder and President of Retirement Solutions, LLC, located in Saratoga Springs. Mr. Kalil has nearly 27 years of professional experience in the financial services industry. He is a Retirement Coach and Financial Advisor who specializes in helping people develop their own personal Social Security claiming strategy for the purpose of maximizing their retirement income benefits. He is not affiliated, endorsed or employed by the Social Security Administration or any other Governmental agency. John Kalil is also a Registered Representative of Hazard & Siegel, Inc. Securities are offered through Hazard & Siegel Inc., 5793 Widewaters Parkway, Syracuse, New York 13214. Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory Services offered through Hazard & Siegel Advisory Services, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. SF
DON’T LET ROBO CALLS
Steal Your Season!
WRITTEN BY RICK COBELLO, PRESIDENT GLOBAL CYBERSECURITY SOLUTIONS LLC
How many times have you received a call about an extended warranty that you don’t have or that free Marriott vacation?
This time of year, it is especially important to be vigilant due to tax filing time. Many scams exist during the tax period. “Robo calls are the greatest consumer complaint to the FCC with over 200,000 complaints each year—around 60 percent of all the complaints we receive. Some private analysts estimate that U.S. consumers received nearly 4 billion robocalls per month in 2018. Unfortunately, advancements in technology make it cheap and easy to make massive numbers of robocalls and to "spoof" caller ID information to hide a caller's true identity.” (Federal Communications Commission)
SPOOFING — WHAT IS IT?
Spoofing is a method used by both legitimate and illegitimate parties to make it seem as if a phone call is coming from a certain number when it’s actually coming from somewhere else.
For businesses, spoofing can be a practical and necessary activity… EXAMPLES OF LEGAL SPOOFING
Spoofing is usually legal when the person making the call has the legal right to use the spoofed number, even when calling from a different number. Examples of legal spoofing include: • contractors hired by a company to make calls can spoof by displaying their client’s business number on the caller ID instead of the telemarketers’ own phone number. • A business with a toll-free number may spoof by displaying their toll-free number on the caller ID instead of the internal line. • As a professional, you have the legal freedom to spoof your office number when making business calls from your personal device. Calls like you usually get from your doctor.
ILLEGAL SPOOFING IS EASIER TO DETECT.
Spoofing is almost always illegal when the spoofer doesn’t have legal rights to the number being impersonated. A few examples of illegal spoofing include: • Deception: This is when the caller spoofs with the goal of hiding their real number and they don’t care which number they use for the spoof. • Impersonation: This is when the caller intentionally spoofs a believable number that the receiver will be more likely to pick-up or trust.
• Neighborhood Spoofing:
Neighborhood spoofing is similar to impersonation, but imposters attempt to mimic a number from a local company or individual.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
• Don't answer calls from unknown numbers. If you answer such a call, hang up immediately. • You may not be able to tell right away if an incoming call is spoofed. Be aware: Caller ID showing a "local" number does not necessarily mean it is a local caller. • If you answer the phone and the caller - or a recording - asks you to hit a button to stop getting the calls, you should just hang up. Scammers often use this trick to identify potential targets.
ROBO CALLS
• Do not respond to any questions, especially those that can be answered with "Yes." • Never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother's maiden names, passwords, or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls or if you are at all suspicious. • If you get an inquiry from someone who says they represent a company or a government agency, hang up and call the phone number on your account statement, in the phone book, or on the company's or government agency's website to verify the authenticity of the request. • Use caution if you are being pressured for information immediately. • If you have a voice mail account with your phone service, be sure to set a password for it. Some voicemail services are preset to allow access if you call in from your own phone number. A hacker could spoof your home phone number and gain access to your voice mail if you do not set a password. • Talk to your phone company about call blocking tools they may have and check into apps that you can download to your mobile device to block unwanted calls. • If you use robocall-blocking technology already, it often helps to let that company know which numbers are producing unwanted calls so they can help block those calls for you and others. • To block telemarketing calls, register your number on the Do Not Call List. Legitimate telemarketers consult the list to avoid calling both landline and wireless phone numbers on the list. Register your phone numbers with the Do Not Call List by calling 1-888-382-1222. It won't make a huge difference because scammers don't care about rules. But it might cut down on some legitimate solicitors. There are many apps for your phone that may help. Many of these apps require a monthly fee. This is an app that has some reasonable success, and it has a no cost version… HIYA: Hiya identifies calls you want and blocks numbers you want to avoid, and comes with options like auto-blocking and reverse phone lookup. To receive premium features there is a monthly charge. There are many other apps, but this is a start to determine your individual needs. In 2019, the median loss with a robo call was $700.00 with many instances of much more. Make privacy and security part of you cybersecurity plan. Protect yourself and your information... Don’t be a victim!
(The software mentioned is representative of available call blocking software. The author has no vested interest or received any compensation for mentioning the software)
For more information:
GlobalCybersecuritySolutionsLLC.com SF
