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Social Security Column
A Calculated Retirement
By Erin Thompson, Social
Security Public Affairs Specialist in Toledo, OH
Guest Column
Calculating when you should retire requires evaluating all
sources of your retirement income. There are many factors to
consider, including your personal retirement goals. With
multiple factors affecting your decision, sometimes it’s
difficult to see the big retirement picture. Social Security
secures your today and tomorrow by offering a webpage of
calculators to help you plan your Social Security retirement
benefits. You can access our online calculators at
www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/benefitcalculators.html
to get started planning.
Visit our calculator page and fine-tune your benefit
estimate by using the Retirement Estimator if you
have the required 40 work credits. Changes in your personal
circumstances may cause changes in the number of years you
work before you retire. Suppose you had planned to work an
additional 10 years before retiring, but now you are
considering moving that up to the end of this year. How can
you determine how much the difference in dollars in the
monthly benefits will be? You can create one estimate with
your projected earnings through this year and another
including the next ten years. These are estimates, but they
will give you an approximation for each retirement age to
help you make your decision.
You can also use our Online Calculator if you don’t
have 40 work credits. You need to enter all of your earnings
manually, but you can project future earnings through your
potential retirement date. Again, this is an estimate based
on your future estimated earnings, but it provides you with
planning numbers. These three calculators will meet almost
everyone’s pre-retirement planning needs. But, wait, there’s
more. Use the Life Expectancy Calculator for a rough
estimate of how long you might live. The Retirement Age
Calculator determines your full retirement age and shows
the differences when benefits are taken early. The Early
or Late Retirement Calculator can show the differences
in benefit amount if you file early or wait until later to
start benefits. You can use the Benefits for Spouse
Calculator to find out how your spouse’s benefit changes
if taken early. You can access all of these at
www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/benefitcalculators.html.
Another great planning tool is the Social Security
Statement. Get yours today with a my Social Security
account at
www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.With our calculators
doing all the number crunching, we make the big picture
easier to see. The road to retirement is in the viewfinder
and you have your resources ready. Now that you know which
calculator to use, you can start figuring your best
retirement option for a calculated retirement.
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