Your Social Security Payout May Be Less Than You Were Hoping

When it comes to retirement planning, the rich really do get richer while the poor get poorer.  If you have a well-paying job, you have plenty of money to put into savings each month after you pay your bills, so you can spend your golden years earning passive income.  For everyone else, there is Social Security.  When President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law in 1935, his intention was for no one to be destitute in their old age; it was a response to the reality that most working people live paycheck to paycheck and do not have enough income to save for their own retirement.  Of course, just as banks charge the working poor to access their own money, Uncle Sam deducts money from the monthly Social Security checks of the people who need the money the most.  Even if you confidently answer “we’re in the middle” whenever your children ask whether your family is rich or poor, all of the ways that the government can nickel and dime you out of your Social Security payments should be enough to send you running to an Orlando estate planning lawyer well before you reach retirement age.

All the Bureaucratic Glitches

You file taxes, so certainly Uncle Sam must know how much you have earned in each year of your working life.  You would be surprised how many mistakes are in the government’s records.  These mistakes can lead to a reduction in the Social Security Benefits you can draw.

The Poor Get Poorer

Public sector employees who are entitled to publicly funded pensions may not be entitled to collect Social Security, but apart from that, many of the government’s reasons for reducing your Social Security pay have to do with financial hardships you suffered earlier in life.  For example, Uncle Sam can reduce your monthly Social Security disbursements if you owe overdue taxes or child support or if you defaulted on your student loans.

Millennials Might Be Out of Luck Anyway

Meanwhile, if you were born after 1968, all of this worrying about a difference of a few dollars in your monthly Social Security check might be moot.  The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance fund, from which Social Security benefits are paid, is on track to run out by 2033.  Millennials and the younger members of Generation X may not be able to collect Social Security, anyway.  If you are young enough for Social Security not to be a sure thing when you reach retirement age, you are just the right age to start planning for your future self’s financial support.

Let Us Help You Today

Your generation has learned to expect the unexpected.  An Orlando estate planning lawyer can help you develop an estate plan that enables you to fund your retirement even if Social Security funds run out before you get to retirement age.  Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. for a consultation.

Source:

moneytalksnews.com/slideshows/10-things-that-could-hurt-your-social-security-payments/