subject: Clearing Up Social Security Confusion [print this page] Social Security is typically used to refer to retirement, disability, death, and survivorship benefits that the senior can use to add to his or her retirement income. These benefits are also provided by conventional pension plans from private providers. Although the country's Social Security system paid out close to $500 billion towards senior benefits in 2004, comparing that to the number of beneficiaries will show that a retiree's total benefits aren't what you would call a tidy sum, especially when you factor in the qualifications a senior has to meet in order to obtain full benefits.
Reduced benefits from Social Security are payable at the age of 62, at the earliest, while full benefits depend on the person's birth year. People born before 1938 are qualified at 65, and the age increases two months for the following years until 1943, where age should be at 66 until birth year 1955. After that year, the age of normal retirement increases by the same increment until 1960 - here, 67 is the retirement age "ceiling." If you start your benefits before the age of retirement, you'll also get a reduction of benefits that depend on how many months there are before the age of normal retirement.
Workers who delay the start of their retirement benefits beyond the normal age of retirement earn credits to increase benefits until the age of 70. A worker who does so also gets credits towards the widower's benefit, although not towards benefits for the spouse and children.
Social Security and the degree of benefits you can get from the system are a lot more complicated, and possibly less profitable than you might have considered. These are just a few of the aspects of the system you should know about, which can help you calculate how much you can get at retirement, and how much any beneficiaries will receive when you pass on. Remember that although Social Security may make up a large chunk of many retirees' retirement income, you shouldn't depend solely on its benefits.
