Peter D. Murphy - Social Security for Decision Makers: Charting Your Course to Retirement

Social Security for Decision Makers

Charting Your Course to Retirement

By Peter D. Murphy

Published by
RockStar Publishing House
32129 Lindero Canyon Road, Suite 205
Westlake Village, CA 91361
www.rockstarpublishinghouse.com

Copyright 2014 by Peter Murphy

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by in any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Murphy, Peter

Social Security for Decision Makers

ISBN:

Paperback: 9781937506766

eBook: 9781937506773

Cover design by: Michael Short
Interior design: Scribe Inc.

Disclaimer: Securities and Advisory Services through United Planners Financial Services, A Limited Partnership. Member: FINRA, SIPC. OSJ Office: 901 Route 23 South, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444 (973) 831-4424. APG and United Planners are not affiliated. This APG office is independently owned and operated.

Authors URL: www.PeterMurphy1APG.com

Thank You!

To my wonderful wife, Lisa,
for inspiring (nagging) me to write this book

To Peter and Kathleen Murphy for
my education, work ethic, and empathy

To Mark Charnet, CEO/president of American Prosperity Group
(http://www.1APG.com)

To Patrick Carlson, illustrator (http://www.bbqlogos.com)

To Kelly Koepke, editor (http://www.kellykoepke.com)

To Karen Strauss, publisher at RockStar Publishing House
(http://www.rockstarpublishinghouse.com)

Isnt it better to know the ending at the beginning? This book is about concepts and decisions; it is not a numbers game for bean counters. Well start with the forest and show you several paths to explore. It will help you make better retirement decisions, so the first order of business is determining your goals. Define your goals before reading this book, really!

I cant completely eliminate numbers, but I promise to minimize their use. The journey will be fun. Social Security and fun in the same sentencestranger things have happened.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!

Social Security is the biggest piece of the retirement puzzle. Approximately 40% of the average retirees income is her Social Security benefit check. Because its the largest piece, your decision on when to start collecting is important. You dont want to screw this decision up, so you should read the book.

This is a government-run program. In other words, its more complicated than it needs to be and harder to understand than it should be. Dont believe me? Just log into the official Social Security Administration website (http://www.ssa.gov) and start reading. When you are done and understand it all, please give me a call and Ill send you the 10th edition of this book free, or maybe you can just help me write the 11th edition.

Uninformed decisions on your Social Security benefit and the lack of coordination of a spousal (or ex-spousal) benefit could cost you more than a hundred thousand dollars over your lifetime.

If you collect a Social Security benefit before full retirement age and continue to work, you may lose some of that Social Security income. Enough said for now. Ill write more on this later.

Are you married, divorced, or a survivor (a widow or widower)? If so, you have more options than your single counterparts and need to understand how these decisions will affect your retirement and legacy planning.

THE 90% SOLUTION

Have you ever run into people who cant make a darn decision? We all know them; some just plain wont make decisions and their circuitry will never change. Then there are the ones who always need more information, and just when you think they are completely overloaded with material, answers, and suggestions, they ask for more stuff. If you are one of those types, you wont get 100% of the information you want from this book. This book was created to inform those who want enough information to make a well-educated decision and move on. Im not going to discuss Social Security brick by brick nor get into the bend points used to determine payment expectations. Offering more information will induce coma-like symptoms and confuse minds. Although I generally like to confuse people from time to time, this simple book will focus on the beef with no bun or condiments. After all, most of us dont want to understand every aspect of Social Security; we just want to make a good decision about claiming our earned benefits.

This book will answer common questions and provide scenarios to help you understand available options. It will open your eyes to the complexity of Social Security while simplifying your choices and suggesting appropriate solutions. This book will keep you safeI promise!

MUST STAY!

If you were born in 1960 or earlier, this book is probably for you. As one of todays 78 million baby boomers, this book will inform you on Social Security essentials and help you make educated decisions about when to collect your benefit. There is a right solution for you; its just not the right decision for everyone, so keep that in mind.

For single people, deciding when to begin social security benefits might take less effort, but everyone has options to consider. If you are divorced, the key question is, were you married to someone for at least 10 years? It must be one person, one time, for at least 10 years, or there will be no ex-spousal and no survivor benefit. Its a harsh rule, but if you are considering leaving your spouse, is it worth sucking it up for 10 years before divorce? I doubt it, but the choice is yours.

Survivors have too many options to consider. Yes, I did say too many. Just the same, you need to understand your choices and know that you can undo, redo, and upgrade later in life. I know, it sounds confusing, but Ill turn the Social Security window less opaque in this short book. The key is that you will learn the available choices, understand how to evaluate them, and choose the right answer for you.

Married couples have many options also. This book will help you make excellent decisions to reach your goals. Understanding concepts such as the strategic use of a spousal benefit, why maximizing one of your two earned benefits is advantageous, and what happens when the first spouse passes away are paramount and could be worth tens of thousands of dollars or more.

If you are single or divorced and contemplating marriage, you should read this book. Getting married could increase your benefit or decrease it. Yes, that last sentence is correct. You could decrease your Social Security benefit if you remarry. I talk about love versus money in . There is no need to take a pay cut for love when shacking up is an option.

I love proactive planners. If that describes you, read this book and congratulations on getting an early start. The sooner you educate yourself, understand the concepts, and seek council, the more likely it is that you will reach your goal. Any plan is better than no plan, and frankly, most of us have no plan.

SHOULD GO!

Those born after 1960 should pass on this book. I appreciate you being superproactive, but the likelihood of Social Security benefits changing for you is high. Come back in a few years and try a more recent edition after Congress makes its adjustments. Additionally, cost-of-living adjustments and Medicare Part B premiums change annually. OK, the Medicare Part B stuff is more than I should have mentioned, as my purpose is to keep this book simple.