Social Security Retirement Benefits - Hepful Insights

Your first social security retirement benefit check could possibly leave you speechless.

This may happen for several reasons. First of all, if you're like most people, you may not have a clue on how they arrive at the number on your monthly check.

Secondly, you may be as confused as many people are about the forever changing rules about eligibility. I know I was. Heck, I think even some social security attorneys (yes, believe it or not, some specialize in that area) are confused at times.

Here are some of the basic foundations you need to understand about your social security retirement benefit. Hopefully this short reading will encourage you to revisit the tips I give you on building your own source of retirement income so that you're not dependent entirely on social security in your retirement.

You may or may not know this but NOT everyone is covered by social security. A basic condition for coverage is that you must be a worker who pays your FICA taxes.

There is a direct relationship between the amount of FICA taxes you've paid during your working years and the level of benefit you earn.

Your monthly benefit is based on your average indexed monthly earnings. They apply a formula to this average in order to come up with your primary insurance amount. This is the actual amount that becomes your social security retirement benefit at full retirement age.

By the way, it is a common misconception that at 65, you're eligible for full retirement benefits. The Social Security Administration's simple chart shows you at what age you qualify for full social security retirement benefit. You can find the chart on the following page on the SSA website.

As you can see from the chart, if you decide to file early for benefits, say at 62, you will receive reduced benefits. By the way, this benefit will never increase to 100 percent even when you reach full retirement age.

Speaking of benefits, can you guess the sum of money social security delivers to your beneficiary upon your death? I'll give you a minute. Are you ready? Maybe you should grab a chair first. Are you sitting down now?

Drumroll please...

A whopping $255. That's it. There's no typo. I'm not missing any commas or zeros, or anything.You read right. Two-hundred, fifty-five dollars will be given your spouse or eligible children to help cover funeral expenses. If that doesn't get you thinking about life insurance I'm not sure what will.

Of course your eligible surviving spouse will get to collect your social security retirement benefit check monthly, but only at age 65 unless he or she elects to receive reduced benefits as early as 60 (and no earlier).

Does that motivate you to put a plan in place for your loved ones when you're gone?

Look, whether you're dead or alive, it's clear that social security is not going to cut it by itself. You need a more solid plan in place for your own comfortable retirement and for the ones who count on you.

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