Damian Sylvia - 8 Ways the Government Can Cut Your Social Security Benefit

There's arguably no program more important to citizens during retirement than Social Security. Though Medicare's importance is growing over time, no social program tops the guaranteed monthly payout that nearly all seniors receive from Social Security in retirement. And 62% of aged beneficiaries lean on this benefit to provide at least half of their monthly income.

However, the federal government through policy action can alter Social Security income. Some actions could raise additional revenue for the program, ultimately buoying or even lifting scheduled payouts. Meanwhile, others are aimed at cutting long-term program expenditures and, in many cases, reducing monthly and/or lifetime benefits.

Read full article on The Motley Fool here. 

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

Ask Larry: ​I Got Hit By Deeming. Can I Undo The Damage?

Social Security may be one of your largest assets. What and when you collect will make a huge difference to your lifetime benefits.

Today’s column examines examines the deeming provision, by which you might be deemed to file for both your spousal and your retirement benefit, spousal and widow(er)’s benefits and other topics.

You can submit a question by clicking on the link below. Questions submitted to Ask Larry are answered by Social Security experts.

Continue reading source article here. 

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

6 Ways to Fix Social Security’s Finances

The Social Security program currently has enough resources to pay out all promised benefits for nearly two decades. However, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is projected to be depleted in 2035. After that, the program expects to have enough tax revenue coming in to continue to provide about 77 percent of scheduled benefits. There are several Social Security tweaks that would correct the problem. A recent Government Accountability Office report examined several Social Security changes and how far they would go toward fixing Social Security's long-term projected deficit. Here's a look at how several potential Social Security solutions would change the system's finances.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

 

One in Three Americans Have Nothing Saved for Retirement

Nothing was more important to Winnie than her young children. The married mother of three took care of their needs but seldom took care of her own. As Winnie neared retirement, she divorced her spouse without a pension, 401-k or any significant savings. Because of an illness, she was forced to retire early and take reduced Social Security benefits. Her story is not uncommon.

Continue reading source article here. 

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

How Your Social Security Benefit May Be Unfair

Are you happy with Social Security? If you are, bravo. If not, read this discussion of benefit calculations and get angry.

Don’t take my word for it that the payout formulas are screwy. Recently published comment from Eugene Steuerle, budget expert at Urban Institute:

“Social Security spousal and survivor benefits are so peculiarly designed that they would be judged illegal and discriminatory if private pension or retirement plans tried to implement them.”

Continue reading source article here.

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

4 ways to tell if you’re financially ready for retirement

Do you have enough money to retire? That’s not an easy question to answer, but there are some ways to tell if you’re on track. Experts like to use the following methods to determine if you have enough to fund your desired lifestyle.

Crunch the numbers. Map your projected income — from personal assets, earned income, pensions and Social Security — against projected expenses. This is perhaps the most accurate way to determine whether you’re financially ready. But it will require more than a weekend of number crunching.

Continue reading source article here. 

Damian J. Sylvia 

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

How Working an Extra Year Improves Your Retirement Finances

Delaying retirement for one year can boost your monthly income.

Working for an additional year can have a significant impact on your retirement finances. A single extra year of work can boost your Social Security payments, give you more time to accumulate retirement savings and shorten the period of retirement you need to pay for. Here's a look at how delaying retirement for one year can improve your retirement budget.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

 

How to hike your guaranteed lifetime retirement income

One of the most difficult retirement planning challenges is dealing with the uncertainty of how long you might live. You just don't know whether you'll make it to age 75, 85 or 95. That's why it's smart to develop sources of retirement incomethat guarantee to pay you no matter how long you live, such as Social Security, a pension or an annuity from an insurance company.

The trouble is, many people haven't earned a significant pension from their employer, and many retirees don't buy annuities from insurance companies. That leaves you with just one option: maxing your Social Security benefits, which you can do by delaying the start of benefits. For each month you delay, your monthly retirement income rises, but that increase stops at age 70, after which you receive no additional credits for delaying your benefits.

Continue reading source article here. 

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

How Retirement Benefits Will Change in 2016

While a new type of retirement account will emerge, several Social Security claiming options will soon disappear.

Retirement savers will get the option to participate in a new type of retirement account next year, the myRA. There will also be fewer Social Security claiming options for married couples and a small Medicare premium increase for some beneficiaries. Here are some of the important ways retirement benefits will change in 2016.

Continue reading source article here. 

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

Women and Retirement

Retirement planning is important for all Americans, but the importance is heightened for women. The retirement deck is stacked against women in several ways, including generally lower pay compared to men and lower Social Security benefits upon retirement. Social components include greater likelihood of caregiving responsibilities resulting in increased part-time work or time out of the workforce. Since women outlive men by 4.8 years on average, they also have a longer retirement period.

Continue reading source article here. 

Damian Sylvia

Founder

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

5 Ways You Can Pay for Retirement in Advance

In retirement your income is largely fixed. Your Social Security payments will increase only by the annual inflation rate. And you can safely withdraw only about 4 percent of your savings each year, perhaps also adjusted for inflation. Given these constraints, it can be difficult to cope with sudden or large expenses. One way to prepare yourself is to eliminate as many bills as you can before you retire. Your fixed income will provide for a better lifestyle if there are fewer bills you need to cover. Here are some retirement expenses you can pay for in advance.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

The Big Social Security Disconnect In Americans' Retirement Plans

No wonder Americans are so worried about retirement. A new survey shows 80% of them are planning to rely on Social Security benefits “substantially” or “somewhat” in retirement (or already do so). But only 42% are “very” or “somewhat” confident in the program’s future.

Compounding this uncertainty: widespread confusion about what the looming exhaustion of the Social Security Trust funds really means. According to the Social Security Trustees’ most recent projections issued last month, the combined trust funds (those paying for both old age and disability benefits) will be exhausted in 2034, at which point Social Security taxes coming into the Treasury will be enough to pay only 79% of promised benefits. Yet 19% of those surveyed thought Social Security would be unable to pay any benefits at all after trust fund exhaustion and 54% admitted they had no idea what the impact would be. Just 26% knew that the program would be able to pay some, but not all, benefits.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

The biggest Social Security mistake women make

Is 62 too young to claim for women to claim Social Security?

That is the age at which both women and men are allowed to claim, and sure enough, 40.8 percent of the women who were newly awarded Social Security retirement benefits in 2014 were aged 62. Some 65 percent were below their full retirement age, typically 66. And just 2.8 percent of the women were 70 or older, the age at which they receive their maximum Social Security retirement benefits, according to Social Security Administration data.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian J. Sylvia
Retirement Income Solutions
220 Monmouth Road
Oakhurst, NJ 07755

5 Best Tips to Save $1 Million for Retirement

Everyone knows that they need to save for retirement especially with company pensions becoming extinct over the next generation. At some point, you’re going to stop working and will have to live on whatever you have saved plus what you’re entitled to receive from Social Security.

Having worked with many people who have saved $1 million or more, there are patterns of behavior that they all possess that have helped them to accumulate their wealth. While there’s no denying that it helps to start with a well-paying job, earning more money is no guarantee that you’ll be set for retirement. If you want to have $1 million or more saved for retirement, here are 5 tips to help you join the millionaire retiree ranks.

Continue reading source article here. 

When Should You Take Social Security Retirement Benefits?

For a lot of folks, the title question is a no-brainer: take the money and run. Why, you’ve been paying into this system all your life, so you should begin taking it back out as soon as you can, right?

Well, maybe.

Continue reading source article at Forbes.com.

Damian J. Sylvia

Managing Partner

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07719

 

You should break these six retirement rules. Here's why.

Are there right and wrong ways to retire? While that's a relative question, there are retirement rules that are in your best interest to follow — and those you might want to break. Consider these six retirement rules you might be better off ignoring.

1. Depending on a Pension or Social Security

Counting on a pension or Social Security to help you ride out your retirement years? That's probably not the best strategy to have, considering that very few companies still offer pensions (though you'd know if yours does) and Social Security is still in crisis (so much so that it might be bankrupt and not even exist by the time you retire). That's not to mention that inflation is likely to outpace your per-month payouts in the off chance that you do receive these income sources.

Continue reading source article at CSmonitor.com.

Damian J. Sylvia
Managing Partner
Retirement Income Solutions

4 ways to outlive your retirement savings

If you can work longer, for many people that will be a more palatable solution than saving a crazy percentage of your salary," Webb said.

Working longer also allows you to wait to claim Social Security retirement benefits.

Typically, the longer you wait to claim benefits, the bigger your monthly payments will be, up until age 70. Those who claim benefits at age 70 get a whopping 76 percent more per month than they would if they began drawing benefits at age 62, according to the book "Falling Short: The Coming Retirement Crisis and What to Do About It."

Continue reading the source article at CNBC.com. 

Damian Sylvia

Managing Partner

Retirement Income Solutions

The Retirement Crisis: Why 68% Of Americans Aren't Saving In An Employer-Sponsored Plan

Few Americans are saving for retirement, suggesting many workers may face a retirement with a lower standard of living, according to a recent study released by the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy analysis at the New School.

Since Social Security cannot fully replace income in retirement, other savings is needed, and that usually comes in the form of funds accumulated in employer-sponsored retirement plans such as 401(k)s.

Continue reading article on Forbes.com.

Damian J. Sylvia

Managing Partner

Retirement Income Solutions

The 3 Secrets to Maxing out Social Security Spousal Benefits

When it comes to social security there are many combinations available. If you need help planning for social security, contact my office at 732-508-6044.

To review a few different scenarios highlighted on TimeMagazine.com, click here.

Damian J. Sylvia
Managing Partner
Retirement Income Solutions

How Social Security Funding Affects Your Retirement

The first person to receive a monthly Social Security retirement benefit, Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, earned quite a return on her tax dollars.

Fuller paid $24.75 in payroll taxes, which is used to fund Social Security, over three years while working as a legal secretary. She retired at age 65 in November 1939. On Jan. 31, 1940, she received her first Social Security check of $22.54. From then until 1970 when she died at age 100, Fuller collected a total of $22,888.92 in Social Security retirement benefits, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Continue reading source article at NBCnews.com.

Damian Sylvia

Managing Partner

Retirement Income Solutions