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 176
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 All-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 301
