One week ago tomorrow our Social Security Event occurred, reminding us of just how fast a human being can speak, thank you again Tom Clark – Wow… (Thank goodness for the five recorders we had going)
Yes … last Friday we teased a post coming the next week, today we are going to tease an expectations of 10-15 posts over the summer … as Mr. Clark really outdid himself this year.
Starting off with Disability Benefits, then a deep dive into Retirement benefits and just when we thought we going to be finished, Medicare benefits….
Special Thanks to all that came to share their Saturday morning — So wonderful to see you and great questions during the event!
Three Fun Facts From the Social Security Event
With so much ground covered, it was actually tough picking the fun facts for our teaser… so we are going with what stuck in our minds seemed appropriate… not to worry, there are many more to do along with this….
1. The fastest growing age group is those over 100 years old! (Startling statistic that bodes well for our collective happiness and healthiness, but also important for long term planning!)
2. One in four people will receive Social Security Disability benefits before full retirement – this is down from 30% – we are getting more healthy, but a huge number – Mr. Clark asked us to visualize a Dallas Cowboys game with one fourth of the folks attending the game receiving Disability benefits at some point in their lives!
3. Retirement benefits from Social Security are calculated on your highest 35 years of work, inflated up for inflation, meaning when you were working in your 20’s those earnings get inflation adjusted up at retirement – frequently resulting in a full benefit deposit when you were working early in your career… Most, including ourselves have hear the last four years or something of the like – not true.
One additional item that just came up as this was being written- Let’s call it a Bonus point –
Ten quarters of earnings gets you into the Social Security Benefit Pool, but does nothing beyond that – Wow, we have heard that misstated many times….
Ahhhh…. today is the First Friday in May !
Pat yourself on the back for all you have done and all of those you have influenced – Now go enjoy your weekend, rest, re-charge, and smile to everyone you see this weekend !
John A. Kvale CFA, CFP
