Social Security 101

From Medicare to Spousal Benefits, an Essential Primer on Government Retirement Aid

Alfred Mill

• Publisher: Adams Media
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781440599224
• eBook ISBN: 9781440599231
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Finance

Learn about Social Security and plan for your future with the help of this comprehensive and accessible guide to everything you need to know about Social Security.

Understanding Social Security can be overwhelming at times and dense government websites don’t help. Fortunately, Social Security 101 can help with easy-to-understand explanations and lessons that keep you engaged as you learn all you need to know about the federal program that’s been around since the Great Depression. Social Security 101 will give you the most up-to-date information on this government program, such as:

-Getting a Social Security card

-Applying for benefits

-Estimating your benefits

-Disability benefits

-Medicare

-401(k) plans for young adults

Use this guide to plan for the future so that you’ll be comfortable in retirement. With the knowledge gained from this book, you’ll feel more secure in your future. Whether you want to learn about calculating your retirement age or estimating your projected payments, Social Security 101 has all the answers—even the ones you didn't know you were looking for.

Copyright © 2016 Simon and Schuster

All rights reserved.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

Published by

Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322. U.S.A.

www.adamsmedia.com

Contains material adapted from The Everything® Retirement Planning Book by Judith B. Harrington and Stanley J. Steinberg, CFP, copyright © 2007 Simon and Schuster, ISBN 10: 1-59869-207-0, ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-207-5 and The Everything® Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s Book, 3rd Edition, by Howard Davidoff, JD, CPA, LLM, copyright © 2012 Simon and Schuster, ISBN 10: 1-4405-4256-2, ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-4256-5.

ISBN 10: 1-4405-9922-X

ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-9922-4

eISBN 10: 1-4405-9923-8

eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-9923-1

Printed in the United States of America.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover design by Heather McKiel.

Cover images © Clipart.com.

Interior images © iStockphoto.com/zimmytws/larryhw/Laura Young/MariuszBlach; Global Cuts; 123rf.com/Robert Mizerek/zimmytws/Brian Jackson/racorn/iqoncent/dmbaker.

This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.

For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.

Contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Introduction
• What Is Social Security?: A Retirement Plan for Everyone
  • Social Insurance
• The Beginnings of S...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Introduction
• What Is Social Security?: A Retirement Plan for Everyone
• The Beginnings of Social Security: Roots in the Great Depression
• The History of Retirement: The Evolution of Leisure
• The Rise of America’s Middle Class: A Retired Class is Born
• Funding Social Security: Paying It Forward
• Fixing Social Security: Countering the Myth of Collapse
• Getting a Social Security Card: Joining the System
• Protecting Your Social Security Number: Guard Against Identity Theft
• Qualifications for Receiving Benefits: Who’s Eligible?
• Your Full Retirement Age: When You’re Expected to Retire
• How to Apply for Benefits: Getting Started with Social Security
• Estimating Your Benefits: How Much Are You Going to Get?
• Disability Benefits: When You Can’t Work Anymore
• Supplemental Security Income: Adding to Your Disability Benefits
• Children with Disabilities: Protecting Your Offspring
• Spousal Benefits: A Key Element of Social Security Claims
• Survivors Benefits: Living after the Breadwinner Is Gone
• Other Beneficiaries: Who Else Can Get Benefits?
• Benefits for Children: Protecting Young People
• Taxes on Social Security Benefits: Giving the Government What’s Theirs
• Working in Retirement: The Pluses and Minuses of More Income
• Taking Benefits Early: Don’t Do It Unless . . .
• Claiming Benefits Later: Increasing the Size of Your Benefit
• If You’re Self-Employed: The Challenge of Working for Yourself
• Deemed Filing: Issues with Suspending Benefits
• Windfall Elimination Provision: Working for Two Different Kinds of Employers
• Government Pension Offset: If You Used to Work for the Government
• The Retroactive Lump Sum Option: Getting a Chunk of Money All at Once
• Stopping Your Benefits: The Strategy of Waiting
• Appealing an SSA Decision: Getting the System to Change Its Mind
• Health and Social Security: Healthcare in Your Golden Years
• Medicare: Your Health in Retirement
• Extra Help with Prescription Costs: If Drugs Are Too Expensive
• Medicare Advantage: Independent Insurance Plans
• Medicaid: Helping Those in Poverty
• Social Security and Your Retirement: Having a Rounded Financial Picture
• Using a Financial Planner: Bringing in the Experts
• Planning for Tomorrow: Young People, Retirement, and Social Security
• Finding Happiness in Retirement: Will Your Retirement Be an Ending or a Beginning?
• Your Dream Retirement: Options for Ending Work
• If a Door Closes: Look for the Open Window
• The New Retirement: No Rocking Chairs for Baby Boomers