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Retirement Is a Big Decision
By Phil Walton, Social Security Manager in Toledo, OH
Guest Column
If you believe in going all the way or not going at all,
there’s a day to celebrate your extreme ways. July 26 is All
or Nothing Day. Not a day for the undecided, All or Nothing
Day is dedicated to the idea of making decisions and
plunging in. Whether it’s overcoming an agonizing fear,
trying something you’ve always wanted to try, or making a
big decision and seeing it through, All or Nothing Day is
your chance to make it happen.
All or Nothing Day is a great day to think about your
retirement—whether it’s right in front of you or looming on
the horizon. When is the right time for you to retire?
Choosing when to retire is an important decision, but it’s
also a personal choice and one you should carefully
consider. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Social
Security offers a list of factors to consider in the
publication, When to Start Receiving Retirement Benefits,
available at
www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs.
If you’re a young or middle-aged worker, you still have time
to ponder that decision. But don’t wait to begin saving for
your retirement. Start saving now and go in all the way. The
more you save, the more comfortable your retirement can be.
And remember, Social Security retirement benefits were not
intended to be your sole source of retirement income and
planning early will make for a comfortable retirement.
Social Security provides two top-rated online tools to help
you plan for your retirement. First is the Retirement
Estimator, which gives you immediate and
personalized retirement benefit estimates. The Retirement
Estimator is convenient and secure, and lets you create
“what if” scenarios. For instance, you can change your “stop
work” dates or expected future earnings to create and
compare different retirement options. If you have a few
minutes, you have time to check it out at
www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator.
Another great tool is your own my Social Security
account. Here you can get instant estimates of your future
benefits and verify that your earnings history is correct
with your own, free my Social Security account. Visit
www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount
and join the millions of people who have already created
their accounts to help plan for retirement.
You can get Social Security retirement benefits as early as
age 62, but if you retire before your full retirement age
(currently age 66, but gradually increasing to age 67), your
benefits will be reduced, based on your age. If you
retire at age 62, your benefit would be about 25 percent
lower than what it would be if you waited until you reach
full retirement age. Find out your full retirement age by
using our Retirement Age Calculator at
www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/ageincrease.htm. You
may choose to keep working even beyond your full retirement
age. If you do, you can increase your future Social Security
benefits—up until age 70.
There is one more way that choosing to keep working can
increase your benefits. If you
receive benefits, and if your latest year of earnings turns
out to be one of your highest years, we refigure your
benefit and pay you any increase due. For example, in
December 2014, you should get an increase for your 2013
earnings if those earnings raised your benefit. The increase
would be retroactive to January 2014. Applying for
Social Security retirement doesn’t have to be an “all or
nothing” decision. Whether you want to retire at age 62,
your full retirement age, or even later, you can apply when
you feel like it. When you’re ready to take that plunge, you
can apply online for retirement benefits at
www.socialsecurity.gov.
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