It is important to use all of your resources to find the best time to apply for Social Security. This choice is likely to be one of the most important ones you ever make, so use the following tools to think about all of your options:
Estimator for Social Security Retirement
Based on how much you’ve earned in the past, this tool will automatically give you an estimate of your Social Security income if you start getting payments at age 62, full retirement age, or age 70.
If you have a mySocialSecurity account, you can change the parameters to get a more realistic plan based on how much you expect to earn in the future or the exact year you plan to retire.
Just keep in mind that you will have to pay for health insurance if you leave before age 65, which is when this benefit starts.
Retirement Calculator from U.S. News
This is a little more complicated because this tool tries to figure out how long your retirement savings and income will last.
Your age, how much money you make before taxes each year, how much you save each month, and how much you have saved for retirement will all be taken into account. This will also show you your life expectancy, inflation rate, and retirement costs.
The calculator can’t give you a 100% exact answer, but it can give you a general idea that you can change to get a better idea of how your money will be in the future. You can play around with your salary, your planned retirement income, and your savings goals to see how this might affect your income in the future.
Making plans for retirement
This tool, also from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, gives you an idea of how much you will get in monthly or yearly Social Security benefits at different claimed ages based on your birth date and the most you’ve ever made in a year.
In addition, it guesses how much money you will have at different times in your life, which helps you plan your spending better.
It’s not as accurate as the Social Security tool because it doesn’t use your real earnings, but the information it gives you about how your marital status, desired retirement age, expected spending, retirement income sources, and length of time you live can affect your benefits will be very helpful.
How to Figure Out Your Social Security Benefits
You can enter information about your own and your spouse’s incomes at the same time into the AARP Social Security Benefits Calculator. This lets you compare benefits at different claimed ages and estimated retirement costs.
It also gives figures for divorced people who were married for at least 10 years and haven’t gotten married again, but it doesn’t take into account benefits for widows and widowers.
After figuring out your expected payout, the tool shows you possible ways to make money in retirement, like Social Security, retirement accounts, or pensions. You can also change the year you start retirement to see how it changes your cash picture.
Calculator for Retirement Age
You can quickly find out the exact age you will be able to collect your full Social Security retirement benefit by entering your birth year into this calculator.
This way, you won’t miss out on benefits because of a few annoying months. There will also be a list of all the numbers that your benefits will go down if you file early.
Calculator for Early or Late Retirement
Just like the last one, this one will correctly tell you how much your payment will change based on the exact month you plan to start Social Security.
Calculator for Testing Your Retirement Income
Some of your Social Security payments may be temporarily held back if you start getting them while you are still working and younger than your full retirement age.
The Retirement Earnings Test Calculator from the Social Security Administration can help you figure out how much could be taken out based on how much you expect to earn.
When you hit full retirement age, your benefits will be recalculated to include the amounts that were withheld and any extra money you make, which could mean that your monthly benefit goes up.
Calculator for Life Expectancy
People often say to file as late as possible to get the most money, but the truth is that no one knows how long we will live. Based on your age and gender, this Social Security calculator will tell you how many more years a person like you can expect to live.
Remember that averages don’t take into account your current health, how you live your life, or your family’s medical past, so don’t put too much stock in these predictions.
A financial planner at Wealth Enhancement Group in Fulton, Maryland, named Brian Kuhn says, “The longer you think you are going to live, the longer it makes sense to wait to take benefits. The earlier you think you are going to die, the earlier it will seem better to claim.
Break-Even Calculator for Social Security Intelligence
This tool gives you a picture of how much money you can expect from Social Security. This lets you see the difference between filing early and late. You can see how changes in inflation and different claiming ages affect your benefits by providing your birthdate and expected Social Security payments.
There are also graphs that show how long it will take to break even if you start getting benefits at different ages. This tool can help you figure out the best way to file a claim, but it’s also important to think about your lifestyle when making your choice.
