Individual Retirees
Do you have any of the following common Social Security Adminstration or benefits questions?
If your question is not in Cindy’s FREE Answer Guide, contact Cindy to see how she can help!
Common Questions
- What are Social Security retirement benefits?
- Do Social Security personnel give financial advice?
- How much is the average monthly Social Security check?
- What are delayed retirement credits?
- How do I maximize my Social Security benefits?
- Can I collect Social Security and still work?
- Can I collect Social Security if I’ve never worked?
- Can I stop my benefits after I begin receiving them?
- When do my Social Security benefits start?
- What are back Social Security benefits?
- Do I have to pay federal taxes on my Social Security income?
- Do sources of retirement income matter?
- Should I worry about state income taxes on my Social Security?
- Does every state tax pensions?
- Will Social Security be there for me?
- What’s the Windfall Elimination Provision?
- What’s a government pension offset?
- My spouse receives Social Security retirement benefit checks. What happens when my spouse dies? Do I have to give back the check issued in the month of death?
Taking Early Benefits
- Why shouldn’t I take my Social Security benefits early?
- Does it ever make sense to take Social Security early?
- Does taking a reduced Social Security benefit early also mean that my spouse’s benefits will be reduced?
- If I take spousal benefits early, are they reduced?
- When does it make sense to take my spousal benefits early?
- Is it true that if I take Social Security early I won’t start losing money for seventeen years?
- If we need the income, which spouse should take Social Security benefits early?
- Does it make sense to use my investments to defer taking my Social Security benefits until age seventy?
Family & Survivor Benefits
- What is a family benefit?
- Can my kids draw Social Security checks on my work record?
- How much can my kids receive from my Social Security?
- What is a survivor benefit?
- How much is my survivor benefit?
- Can I take my survivor benefits and defer taking my retirement benefits? If so, what’s the advantage?
- My spouse is deceased. Will getting married again impact my Social Security benefits?
- My spouse died a long time ago. Do survivor benefits still matter?
- Can I collect survivor benefits if I got remarried and divorced?
- I have been collecting Social Security benefits, and my spouse died. Can I switch to survivor benefits if those are higher?
- Can my kids draw survivor benefits?
Can I get survivor benefits before age sixty?
Spousal Benefits
- What is a spousal benefit?
- Will a divorce impact my spousal benefits?
- If I start my own Social Security retirement benefits, can I later file on the work record of my spouse or ex-spouse if half of their retirement benefits are worth more than my own retirement benefits?
- If I’m divorced but want to remarry, will remarrying impact my Social Security benefits?
- Can more than one ex-spouse draw on my record?
- Must my former spouse be drawing Social Security benefits in order for me to draw spousal benefits as an ex-spouse?
- As an ex-spouse drawing spousal benefits, do I have to worry about family maximums?
- Can I draw spousal benefits if I’m under sixty-two?
- Can I draw spousal benefits on my ex-spouse’s record if I’m not sixty-two yet?
- How do the new Social Security rules impact me?
Download Cindy's FREE Answer Handbook
This FREE Handbook, written for you by career-expert Cindy Lundquist, provides answers to crucial questions you probably did not think to ask about maximizing Social Security benefits.
Topics include: Social Security Administration & benefits overview, benefits calculation, early withdrawal, benefit denial, spousal & disability benefit issues, family & dependents, and much more.
Regulatory Disclaimer
Cindy Lundquist and her affiliates do not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.