News
What You May Not Know About Social Security and Medicare
Know When You Qualify
Many people may be aware that the age
at which you will qualify for full Social
Security retirement benefits has been
creeping up from the traditional 65. Those
born between 1943 and 1954 must be age
66 to qualify and those born in 1960 or later
must be 67, with incremental increases for
years in between. So, right off the bat, it’s
important to know exactly when you’ll
qualify for full benefits. (Find more details
on the Social Security Administration site.)
Consider Your Credits
Not all workers automatically receive
Social Security benefits when they reach
full retirement age. When Social Security
taxes are deducted from your pay, you
receive credits that add up over time to
qualify you for benefits. Those born in
1929 or later need a minimum of 40 credits
and 10 years of work to qualify. If you stop
and start working at different times in your
life, your credits will continue to accumu-
late. In addition, the higher your earnings
over time, the greater the benefit you will
receive (until you reach the benefit maxi-
mum). As a result, if you stopped working
for long periods or if your earnings were
relatively low at various points in your
career, it may be in your interest to work
longer—either full or part time—in order to
pump up your total lifetime earnings.
Make Informed Decisions about Your
Retirement Date
Once you confirm when you qualify for
benefits, you should give some thought to
whether that’s actually the best time for you
to begin receiving them. You may know
that you can begin taking Social Security
retirement benefits as early as age 62, but
they will be lower than the full benefit
you’ll receive if you keep working to full
retirement age. At the same time, you will
receive a higher benefit if you continue
working at least until age 70. As an exam-
ple on the Social Security Administration
site illustrates, the differences in what you
receive can be significant. Imagine that you
qualify to receive $1,000 a month if you
retire at full retirement age at 66. If you
retire at age 62 instead, there will be a per-
manent reduction in your benefit to $750 a
month. If you delay retirement until age 70,
on the other hand, you’re monthly benefit
will jump to $1,320. That means you may
need to do some thinking about the advan-
tages and disadvantages of taking a smaller
amount sooner or holding out for more
later.
Sign up for Medicare by 65
No matter when you start receiving
Social Security benefits, it’s important to
sign up for Medicare three months before
you turn 65, even if you plan to keep work-
ing. If you do not, you may face delays in
or higher costs for coverage. More infor-
mation is available on the Social Security
site.
Dollars & $ense is a regular column on
personal finance cooperation with the Ore-
gon Society of CPAs, www.orcpa.org.
27 TH ANNUAL
M ARTIN L UTHER K ING , J R .
B REAKFAST
Monday
January 21, 2013
8:30-10:30 a.m.
Hilton Portland, Grand Ballroom
921 SW Sixth Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97204
R
R
Reserve a table: MLKBreakfast@theskanner.com
Call 503-285-5555 for more information
A limited amount of non-profit tickets are available, first come first served
Page 8 The Seattle Skanner
November 21, 2012