June 6, 2025 • 17 mins
Can B&H Wealth Strategies Provide Guidance On Social Security Optimization?
Deciding when to claim Social Security might seem straightforward, but optimal timing depends on far more than just selecting an age between 62 and 70. This episode dives deep into the personalized nature of Social Security planning and why cookie-cutter approaches often lead to costly mistakes.
Jeff Bingham, President of B&H Wealth Strategies, emphasizes that Social Security decisions demand a "one size fits one" approach. Your neighbor's perfect claiming strategy could be entirely wrong for your situation. Rather than viewing Social Security in isolation, Jeff explains how their 4 Seasons GPS planning system incorporates Social Security as one piece of your complete retirement puzzle, allowing you to visualize how different claiming ages affect your overall financial success.
For anyone approaching retirement, this episode underscores why professional guidance matters when navigating Social Security's complexity. With proper planning, you can make confident decisions that maximize your benefits within the context of your broader financial goals. Ready to optimize your Social Security strategy? Schedule your free 20-minute consultation today by calling 423-247-1152 or visiting bhretire.com.
To learn more about B&H Wealth Strategies visit:
https://www.BHRetire.com
B&H Wealth Strategies
423- 247-1152
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Four Seasons Podcast brought to you
by B&H Wealth Strategies,serving Northeast Tennessee and
Southwest Virginia since 1966.
Here we guide you through theever-changing seasons of your
financial journey, offeringinsights to help you grow,
protect and enjoy your wealth.
Ready to turn your financialdreams into reality, dare to
(00:27):
dream.
And now here's your host.
President of B&H WealthStrategies, jeff Bingham.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
There's more to Social Security than just
picking an age.
Learn how to unlock its fullvalue with a personalized
strategy.
Welcome back everyone.
Skip Monty, co-host, slashproducer, back in the studio
with president of B&H WealthStrategies, mr Jeff Bingham.
Good to see you, jeff.
How's it going?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Skip, it's going great.
How are you doing this week?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I'm doing fine, doing fine, loving almost summertime.
That's my time.
I love spring, but I lovesummer even more.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Josh, it's hard to believe that as we sit here on
this date of recording anyway,we've got Memorial Day coming on
Monday, so that'll kind of giveeverybody an idea of when we
drop this recording.
I guess we're the 23rd here.
It's just.
It's hard to believe this yearhas flown by.
As we say around here quiteoften is the days are long and
(01:33):
the years are short.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yep, and it just keeps getting.
They keep getting shorter yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
That's an age thing?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yep, it is.
And speaking of age, bigconcern on a lot of folks' mind
is social Security.
So how can B&H WealthStrategies provide guidance on
Social Security optimization?
It's more than just, I guess,picking a date right, there's a
lot of information out there.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I guess that's the right way that I want to say
that you know, and a lot ofpeople will provide you know,
water cooler counsel to folks aswell, or maybe the breakfast
table for those that are retiredand those that are thinking
about it.
They'll kind of toss thosethings out there.
But I will tell you that it isvery much an individual, you
know, or a couple by couple,family by family kind of
(02:25):
decision.
What one person did that youknow, may or may not be the same
type of situation that you haveor that you should incorporate
in your plan.
So, you know, I kind of want togo out there and say that it
really just like anything thatwe talk about here when we're
talking with our clients.
It is a one size fits one kindof kind.
So we look at it.
(02:47):
Obviously you can start drawingat age 62.
You do not want to go past age70.
So somewhere between 62 and 70is where you're going to make
those decisions.
Right.
It's going to be somewhere inbetween there For those.
For example, I was born in 1960.
So my full retirement age, forthe full benefit, is age 67.
(03:09):
If you're born in 59, you knowit's 66 in nine months or 10
months, whatever.
So there's a scale and some ofthose things can be fairly
complicated as well.
And when you retire, duringthis there's a lot of.
There's a lot of complicationin there, which is what I don't
really want to get into.
So's when, when you make thatdecision between 62 and 70 to
draw social security, um isreally let's, let's focus on
(03:31):
that.
So how we go about doing that,and the longer you wait, the
more you, the more your monthlyincome, the more your benefit is
going to be.
Uh, that's right.
And then you can make.
You'll hear cases made that ifyou wait, you know know to 70,
as an example, you're and youlive past, you know age 83, most
of the time is somewhere inthat time period.
(03:52):
That's when you're going to.
You're going to draw moresocial security benefit if you
live to that age and beyond.
That's when you kind of get youknow, when you really have
maximized that.
But a lot of people aren'tgoing to live to 83.
So it's kind of the bird inhand.
So there's a lot of stuff thatgoes around that.
As I wonder, through thisquestion, the way that we do it.
(04:13):
Again, it goes back and I thinkwe've talked about this I'm
sure we have in a previousepisode, but we talked about our
four seasons.
You know GPS, you know what wecall it, you know, kind of you
know, you know the data that'sin front of us and it's the
whole picture.
So you take the whole picture,not just singularly focusing on
Social Security, right, so yousee where the Social Security is
(04:35):
going to be the most.
It's easy to look at that andthen people can give you all
kinds of advice around that.
I can run an optimizationschedule and say, well, if you
wait till this age right hereand you live to this age right
here, you're going to get moreSocial Security benefit.
You and your spouse are goingto get more Social Security
benefit if these things happen,and that's all well and good.
But that is a myopic look atonly your Social Security.
(04:57):
Again, back up from that, lookat your total financial plan,
your total retirement plan,where your assets are, what your
cash flow needs are, and thenactually plug in.
Let's say, if you are retiredat 62, well, let's start drawing
it in 62 with the other assetsthat you have, let's wait to
(05:19):
full retirement and run it thatway.
So you can look, you canactually have an interactive
experience when you sit downwith us to look and see which
way it not only optimizes socialsecurity, because that's a
singular look.
But what is it that optimizesyour total picture, right?
Your total retirement plan, ifyou will, to make sure that your
(05:41):
efficiency is there, your goalsare being met, that you don't
run out of money before you die,you have enough, et cetera, and
if you have some legacy assets.
So again, it is a one size fitsone.
It is not well 62, I get moreto 67 than I get at 62.
I get more at 70.
So I'm going to wait or I'mgoing to start now, because I've
got some mistrust, the socialsecurity system, which may not
(06:02):
be around for me during my wholeretirement, because we
certainly hear a lot of talkabout that.
So let me pause for a minute.
Hopefully that made there wassome clarity in that right there
, because it is an individualsituation, it's not black and
white, it's full color.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
for you, let's say Gotcha, so I guess everybody's
different.
In other words, it's not thesame solution for one size fits
all?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, it's definitely not a one size fits all.
It is a one size fits one,there's no question about it.
Like I said, where we have justan incredibly powerful tool
that we refer to as our FourSeasons GPS roadmap, which is
where we build your financialfreedom plan or your financial
(06:49):
success plan or your retirementplan, however you want to phrase
that.
But it's you know, and socialsecurity is part of that right,
but you've got a pen, maybe youhave a pension.
You've got IRA assets, you'vegot cash savings, you've got a
number of things.
How do you plug all of that in?
And you need $5,000 a month, oryou know, or whatever your
number is on a monthly basis,that you need to have coming in,
(07:10):
and so you need to obviouslymake sure that you protect that
purchasing power.
That number can go up asinflation continues to rise and
it erodes your purchasing powersof the dollars.
In other words, if you retireon $5,000 a month, if that's
your number, that's just anumber drawn out of the air,
nothing magical about that as Isit here and talk, but if $5,000
(07:32):
is that number, you're going toneed more than $5,000 next year
and you're certainly going toneed more than $5,000 five years
from now, because even withfairly moderate inflation or low
inflation, which is obviouslywhat the goal is and we brought
inflation back under control toa degree over the last several
years where it did become, itkind of reared its head for the
(07:55):
first time in 40 some odd years,you know, during the 22, you
know in 2022, when we really,you know, we've seen over the
last what three years and priceshave increased by 26%, right, I
mean that's?
I heard that number thismorning.
So you know that's a that's asharp increase.
And if you've got $5,000 andthe price has increased by 26%
(08:15):
over the last three to fouryears, then you need
considerably more than $5,000.
You need to be in that $6,000to $7,000 range, right?
If you do the arithmetic on,how do you hedge for inflation?
Does Social Security help youhedge for that inflation, et
cetera?
So, again, it is a one sizefits one and what you want to
make sure of is that you do notrun out of money before you die.
(08:38):
You want to optimize yourretirement plan and so when you
plug it in and we can look at it, I mean it is living color and
we can bring it to life withthat retirement GPS system that
I'm describing.
I can't emphasize how powerfula tool it is and if used
correctly, in other words, if wehave the right information to
(08:59):
put into it, we've got a very,very beautiful look.
I always say you can see it,you can feel it, you can
experience retirement to adegree.
If we could bring in beachsmells and mountain smells and
various things into theconference.
We're showing that you can dothat and you can build in
(09:19):
retirement budgets I mean youcan do all kinds I mean not
retirement travel budgets intothat plan.
But social security is in many,or maybe most at least in my
client's experiences, socialsecurity is an intricate part of
a financial plan, a financialretirement plan.
It's intricate.
I mean it's not insignificant,it's not trivial, as sometimes
you'll hear it, I think, kind ofcavalierly talked about on the
(09:44):
various financial broadcastsbecause they were talking to a
lot of high, really really high,net worth individuals where
their incomes are, you know,very, very high, and so Social
Security might be aninsignificant amount of them.
But I can tell you that theclients that I work with on a
regular basis, social Securityis a critically important part
of most, if not all, of myretired clients financial plan.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Wow, wow.
Well, what are some commonmistakes that people do when
they're claiming benefits?
Are there any?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
I think you know they go by rules of thumb or they go
with what someone else thatthey know, you know, suggested.
Well, this is what I did, andyou know I'm the, I'm the, and
they have some cachet with thatperson as far as their and their
financial acumen.
Let's say, right, you know whatI mean, if that makes sense.
(10:37):
So they talk to some you know,friend or relative, you know
that kind of thing and so kindof you know, take that advice
and kind of hold on to that andwe create our biases based on
those things.
So you know, and that mightmean never take it earlier, that
might mean take it early.
Some of the mistakes thatyou'll hear and maybe they don't
need this is that I don't know,this don't need is that I don't
(11:03):
know.
This is a mistake, necessarily,but a lot of people that I sit
in this room with, when they'rethinking about starting to draw
that social security is, there'sthe fear invalidly so, because
it's talked about quite a bit ofthe social security system
going broke, right.
I mean, we hear that with someregularity nowadays the Social
Security system is going to bebroken.
You know 2035, or now it'sshortened to 2033, or wherever.
(11:25):
That's kind of a movingbouncing target right there, and
so when people hear that partof it they think, well, it's not
going to be around for me andthat doesn't really.
Social Security system is notgoing to go broke because it
doesn't have any money in it.
Now, really, this is where, sayAl Gore if you remember Al
Gore's debates with George Bushback in the 2000 election, going
all the way back 25 years ago,he talked about, the social
(11:48):
security lockbox was full ofIOUs, you know.
And so what he meant by thatwas the social security system
is a pay-as-you-go system.
It hasn't always been that way,but it is a pay-as-you-go.
So there's no money set asidein the social security system.
Again, it's pay as you go.
And as long as there's enoughworkers in the workplace paying
(12:09):
into the social security systemand that number, the income, or
that those taxes, that socialsecurity taxes coming in is
higher than those that aredrawing out of the system, right
, then it's not broke, it works,right.
The difference, what theprojections are, is that in 2035
or 2033, wherever we are now onthe projection is that there'll
(12:29):
be more people on the socialsecurity payroll than will be
then.
There will be people on thepayroll, paying into the social
security system.
That's what that means, and soI don't think it's going to go
broke.
I mean, there's some ways.
You know it hadn't been talked alot about in this past or
previous election because therewere so many other things to
talk about, but that's, I thinkthat's one of the mistakes.
(12:50):
They want to draw itimmediately, no matter what.
I'm going to start drawing at62 because I'm afraid it's going
to run out of money.
Therefore, is it going to bearound to pay me?
And I think anybody that'sdrawing today is not in jeopardy
.
I could be wrong, right?
It's an opinion.
This is totally an opinion.
So let me caveat that that ifyou're I think you know my age
and are already on the on ondrawing Social Security, on the
(13:14):
on the on the payroll, let's sayof Social Security, I don't
think that's in jeopardy.
I role.
Let's say of Social Security.
I don't think that's injeopardy.
I mean, could they decreasesome of the benefits?
I suppose they could.
I don't, man, it's such apolitical football.
You know it's a hot potato.
Let's say it's the third railof you know of politics.
You don't touch Social Securitysystem.
You can hear the consternationthat takes place.
(13:34):
So anyway, I don't think Ididn't mean to kind of wander
off into that, but so I don'tthink that's the case.
I see that mistake, probablymade as much as anything because
of their plan, might suggestthat they don't, they shouldn't
start drawing that early, youknow.
Or people will draw and they'restill working, maybe part time,
(13:55):
and they don't realize thatthere's going.
They could be penalized beforethey get to full retirement age.
If they make too much moneywhile working and drawing Social
Security there's a penalty thatcomes along.
You get Social Security kind ofpenalized, taken back, and that
can be quite painful.
And I won't go into the depthof that.
So I'll kind of pause and letyou ask.
But those are, I think, themistakes that are made.
Is they don't they either havebiases around it, they think the
(14:17):
system is going to go broke andthey want to start it now and
that kind of thing.
And then there's a lot of littlenuances to you know, if you've
been married before, if you're awidowed, I mean there are a lot
of things around SocialSecurity that could be quite
complex, honestly, and it'sreally a shame because it really
(14:38):
seems like it should be afairly simple system to kind of
figure out, because it's, youknow, it's for seniors and
seniors get a little frustratedwith, you know, complicated
issues, and we're not, as notall of us, stay as sharp the
older we get, you know, and alot of times it is kind of
created for widows and orphans,if you will, to a degree, and
they're not necessarily, youknow, versed in the financial,
making those types of financialdecisions.
(14:59):
So, again, I would suggest thatanybody out there is thinking
about these things sit down andtalk to somebody that has some
experience in it.
Don't take your advice at thewater cooler, so to speak, or at
the retirement breakfast tableat Hardee's or somewhere like
that.
Listen to it.
I mean, I'm not saying don'tlisten to it, but take it in as
(15:20):
part of its information.
But it's not necessarily gospel, very good advice actually Love
it, jeff.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I definitely learned something here today about
social security, which iscritical to all of us, and maybe
we can talk more about that ina in a future episode too.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Yeah, and there's some social security talk in the
great big, beautiful bill,right as President Trump calls
it.
That they got, I guess, workedthrough the House committee and
it is on its way, I think, tothe Senate.
I could be wrong about that,but I think it's on the way to
the Senate, meaning that they'retrying to eliminate all income
(15:56):
tax eliminated from SocialSecurity, which again is a
conversation to have of actuallyhow it works now, versus just
eliminating it on all SocialSecurity benefits, which would
be a boom.
I mean that would be something.
It'd be quite something if thatgets through.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Absolutely Well.
We'll definitely talk moreabout that in future episodes
and for now, thank you so much.
Love it and appreciate yourinsight, joe.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Thank you very much, Skip.
Always a pleasure to do this.
I enjoy it very much.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Absolutely Same here.
We'll see you soon, thanks.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Thanks for tuning into the Four Seasons Podcast
brought to you by B&H WealthStrategies, where your financial
success is our priority.
Schedule your free 20-minuteconsultation today by calling
423-247-1152 or by visitingbhretirecom.
Take the first step towardmaking your financial dreams
(16:54):
come true.
Until next time, remember everyseason is the right season to
plan for your future.
Welcome to the Four Seasons Podcast brought to you
by B&H Wealth Strategies,serving Northeast Tennessee and
Southwest Virginia since 1966.
Here we guide you through theever-changing seasons of your
financial journey, offeringinsights to help you grow,
protect and enjoy your wealth.
Ready to turn your financialdreams into reality, dare to
(00:27):
dream.
And now here's your host.
President of B&H WealthStrategies, jeff Bingham.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
There's more to Social Security than just
picking an age.
Learn how to unlock its fullvalue with a personalized
strategy.
Welcome back everyone.
Skip Monty, co-host, slashproducer, back in the studio
with president of B&H WealthStrategies, mr Jeff Bingham.
Good to see you, jeff.
How's it going?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Skip, it's going great.
How are you doing this week?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I'm doing fine, doing fine, loving almost summertime.
That's my time.
I love spring, but I lovesummer even more.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Josh, it's hard to believe that as we sit here on
this date of recording anyway,we've got Memorial Day coming on
Monday, so that'll kind of giveeverybody an idea of when we
drop this recording.
I guess we're the 23rd here.
It's just.
It's hard to believe this yearhas flown by.
As we say around here quiteoften is the days are long and
(01:33):
the years are short.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yep, and it just keeps getting.
They keep getting shorter yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
That's an age thing?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yep, it is.
And speaking of age, bigconcern on a lot of folks' mind
is social Security.
So how can B&H WealthStrategies provide guidance on
Social Security optimization?
It's more than just, I guess,picking a date right, there's a
lot of information out there.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I guess that's the right way that I want to say
that you know, and a lot ofpeople will provide you know,
water cooler counsel to folks aswell, or maybe the breakfast
table for those that are retiredand those that are thinking
about it.
They'll kind of toss thosethings out there.
But I will tell you that it isvery much an individual, you
know, or a couple by couple,family by family kind of
(02:25):
decision.
What one person did that youknow, may or may not be the same
type of situation that you haveor that you should incorporate
in your plan.
So, you know, I kind of want togo out there and say that it
really just like anything thatwe talk about here when we're
talking with our clients.
It is a one size fits one kindof kind.
So we look at it.
(02:47):
Obviously you can start drawingat age 62.
You do not want to go past age70.
So somewhere between 62 and 70is where you're going to make
those decisions.
Right.
It's going to be somewhere inbetween there For those.
For example, I was born in 1960.
So my full retirement age, forthe full benefit, is age 67.
(03:09):
If you're born in 59, you knowit's 66 in nine months or 10
months, whatever.
So there's a scale and some ofthose things can be fairly
complicated as well.
And when you retire, duringthis there's a lot of.
There's a lot of complicationin there, which is what I don't
really want to get into.
So's when, when you make thatdecision between 62 and 70 to
draw social security, um isreally let's, let's focus on
(03:31):
that.
So how we go about doing that,and the longer you wait, the
more you, the more your monthlyincome, the more your benefit is
going to be.
Uh, that's right.
And then you can make.
You'll hear cases made that ifyou wait, you know know to 70,
as an example, you're and youlive past, you know age 83, most
of the time is somewhere inthat time period.
(03:52):
That's when you're going to.
You're going to draw moresocial security benefit if you
live to that age and beyond.
That's when you kind of get youknow, when you really have
maximized that.
But a lot of people aren'tgoing to live to 83.
So it's kind of the bird inhand.
So there's a lot of stuff thatgoes around that.
As I wonder, through thisquestion, the way that we do it.
(04:13):
Again, it goes back and I thinkwe've talked about this I'm
sure we have in a previousepisode, but we talked about our
four seasons.
You know GPS, you know what wecall it, you know, kind of you
know, you know the data that'sin front of us and it's the
whole picture.
So you take the whole picture,not just singularly focusing on
Social Security, right, so yousee where the Social Security is
(04:35):
going to be the most.
It's easy to look at that andthen people can give you all
kinds of advice around that.
I can run an optimizationschedule and say, well, if you
wait till this age right hereand you live to this age right
here, you're going to get moreSocial Security benefit.
You and your spouse are goingto get more Social Security
benefit if these things happen,and that's all well and good.
But that is a myopic look atonly your Social Security.
(04:57):
Again, back up from that, lookat your total financial plan,
your total retirement plan,where your assets are, what your
cash flow needs are, and thenactually plug in.
Let's say, if you are retiredat 62, well, let's start drawing
it in 62 with the other assetsthat you have, let's wait to
(05:19):
full retirement and run it thatway.
So you can look, you canactually have an interactive
experience when you sit downwith us to look and see which
way it not only optimizes socialsecurity, because that's a
singular look.
But what is it that optimizesyour total picture, right?
Your total retirement plan, ifyou will, to make sure that your
(05:41):
efficiency is there, your goalsare being met, that you don't
run out of money before you die,you have enough, et cetera, and
if you have some legacy assets.
So again, it is a one size fitsone.
It is not well 62, I get moreto 67 than I get at 62.
I get more at 70.
So I'm going to wait or I'mgoing to start now, because I've
got some mistrust, the socialsecurity system, which may not
(06:02):
be around for me during my wholeretirement, because we
certainly hear a lot of talkabout that.
So let me pause for a minute.
Hopefully that made there wassome clarity in that right there
, because it is an individualsituation, it's not black and
white, it's full color.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
for you, let's say Gotcha, so I guess everybody's
different.
In other words, it's not thesame solution for one size fits
all?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, it's definitely not a one size fits all.
It is a one size fits one,there's no question about it.
Like I said, where we have justan incredibly powerful tool
that we refer to as our FourSeasons GPS roadmap, which is
where we build your financialfreedom plan or your financial
(06:49):
success plan or your retirementplan, however you want to phrase
that.
But it's you know, and socialsecurity is part of that right,
but you've got a pen, maybe youhave a pension.
You've got IRA assets, you'vegot cash savings, you've got a
number of things.
How do you plug all of that in?
And you need $5,000 a month, oryou know, or whatever your
number is on a monthly basis,that you need to have coming in,
(07:10):
and so you need to obviouslymake sure that you protect that
purchasing power.
That number can go up asinflation continues to rise and
it erodes your purchasing powersof the dollars.
In other words, if you retireon $5,000 a month, if that's
your number, that's just anumber drawn out of the air,
nothing magical about that as Isit here and talk, but if $5,000
(07:32):
is that number, you're going toneed more than $5,000 next year
and you're certainly going toneed more than $5,000 five years
from now, because even withfairly moderate inflation or low
inflation, which is obviouslywhat the goal is and we brought
inflation back under control toa degree over the last several
years where it did become, itkind of reared its head for the
(07:55):
first time in 40 some odd years,you know, during the 22, you
know in 2022, when we really,you know, we've seen over the
last what three years and priceshave increased by 26%, right, I
mean that's?
I heard that number thismorning.
So you know that's a that's asharp increase.
And if you've got $5,000 andthe price has increased by 26%
(08:15):
over the last three to fouryears, then you need
considerably more than $5,000.
You need to be in that $6,000to $7,000 range, right?
If you do the arithmetic on,how do you hedge for inflation?
Does Social Security help youhedge for that inflation, et
cetera?
So, again, it is a one sizefits one and what you want to
make sure of is that you do notrun out of money before you die.
(08:38):
You want to optimize yourretirement plan and so when you
plug it in and we can look at it, I mean it is living color and
we can bring it to life withthat retirement GPS system that
I'm describing.
I can't emphasize how powerfula tool it is and if used
correctly, in other words, if wehave the right information to
(08:59):
put into it, we've got a very,very beautiful look.
I always say you can see it,you can feel it, you can
experience retirement to adegree.
If we could bring in beachsmells and mountain smells and
various things into theconference.
We're showing that you can dothat and you can build in
(09:19):
retirement budgets I mean youcan do all kinds I mean not
retirement travel budgets intothat plan.
But social security is in many,or maybe most at least in my
client's experiences, socialsecurity is an intricate part of
a financial plan, a financialretirement plan.
It's intricate.
I mean it's not insignificant,it's not trivial, as sometimes
you'll hear it, I think, kind ofcavalierly talked about on the
(09:44):
various financial broadcastsbecause they were talking to a
lot of high, really really high,net worth individuals where
their incomes are, you know,very, very high, and so Social
Security might be aninsignificant amount of them.
But I can tell you that theclients that I work with on a
regular basis, social Securityis a critically important part
of most, if not all, of myretired clients financial plan.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Wow, wow.
Well, what are some commonmistakes that people do when
they're claiming benefits?
Are there any?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
I think you know they go by rules of thumb or they go
with what someone else thatthey know, you know, suggested.
Well, this is what I did, andyou know I'm the, I'm the, and
they have some cachet with thatperson as far as their and their
financial acumen.
Let's say, right, you know whatI mean, if that makes sense.
(10:37):
So they talk to some you know,friend or relative, you know
that kind of thing and so kindof you know, take that advice
and kind of hold on to that andwe create our biases based on
those things.
So you know, and that mightmean never take it earlier, that
might mean take it early.
Some of the mistakes thatyou'll hear and maybe they don't
need this is that I don't know,this don't need is that I don't
(11:03):
know.
This is a mistake, necessarily,but a lot of people that I sit
in this room with, when they'rethinking about starting to draw
that social security is, there'sthe fear invalidly so, because
it's talked about quite a bit ofthe social security system
going broke, right.
I mean, we hear that with someregularity nowadays the Social
Security system is going to bebroken.
You know 2035, or now it'sshortened to 2033, or wherever.
(11:25):
That's kind of a movingbouncing target right there, and
so when people hear that partof it they think, well, it's not
going to be around for me andthat doesn't really.
Social Security system is notgoing to go broke because it
doesn't have any money in it.
Now, really, this is where, sayAl Gore if you remember Al
Gore's debates with George Bushback in the 2000 election, going
all the way back 25 years ago,he talked about, the social
(11:48):
security lockbox was full ofIOUs, you know.
And so what he meant by thatwas the social security system
is a pay-as-you-go system.
It hasn't always been that way,but it is a pay-as-you-go.
So there's no money set asidein the social security system.
Again, it's pay as you go.
And as long as there's enoughworkers in the workplace paying
(12:09):
into the social security systemand that number, the income, or
that those taxes, that socialsecurity taxes coming in is
higher than those that aredrawing out of the system, right
, then it's not broke, it works,right.
The difference, what theprojections are, is that in 2035
or 2033, wherever we are now onthe projection is that there'll
(12:29):
be more people on the socialsecurity payroll than will be
then.
There will be people on thepayroll, paying into the social
security system.
That's what that means, and soI don't think it's going to go
broke.
I mean, there's some ways.
You know it hadn't been talked alot about in this past or
previous election because therewere so many other things to
talk about, but that's, I thinkthat's one of the mistakes.
(12:50):
They want to draw itimmediately, no matter what.
I'm going to start drawing at62 because I'm afraid it's going
to run out of money.
Therefore, is it going to bearound to pay me?
And I think anybody that'sdrawing today is not in jeopardy
.
I could be wrong, right?
It's an opinion.
This is totally an opinion.
So let me caveat that that ifyou're I think you know my age
and are already on the on ondrawing Social Security, on the
(13:14):
on the on the payroll, let's sayof Social Security, I don't
think that's in jeopardy.
I role.
Let's say of Social Security.
I don't think that's injeopardy.
I mean, could they decreasesome of the benefits?
I suppose they could.
I don't, man, it's such apolitical football.
You know it's a hot potato.
Let's say it's the third railof you know of politics.
You don't touch Social Securitysystem.
You can hear the consternationthat takes place.
(13:34):
So anyway, I don't think Ididn't mean to kind of wander
off into that, but so I don'tthink that's the case.
I see that mistake, probablymade as much as anything because
of their plan, might suggestthat they don't, they shouldn't
start drawing that early, youknow.
Or people will draw and they'restill working, maybe part time,
(13:55):
and they don't realize thatthere's going.
They could be penalized beforethey get to full retirement age.
If they make too much moneywhile working and drawing Social
Security there's a penalty thatcomes along.
You get Social Security kind ofpenalized, taken back, and that
can be quite painful.
And I won't go into the depthof that.
So I'll kind of pause and letyou ask.
But those are, I think, themistakes that are made.
Is they don't they either havebiases around it, they think the
(14:17):
system is going to go broke andthey want to start it now and
that kind of thing.
And then there's a lot of littlenuances to you know, if you've
been married before, if you're awidowed, I mean there are a lot
of things around SocialSecurity that could be quite
complex, honestly, and it'sreally a shame because it really
(14:38):
seems like it should be afairly simple system to kind of
figure out, because it's, youknow, it's for seniors and
seniors get a little frustratedwith, you know, complicated
issues, and we're not, as notall of us, stay as sharp the
older we get, you know, and alot of times it is kind of
created for widows and orphans,if you will, to a degree, and
they're not necessarily, youknow, versed in the financial,
making those types of financialdecisions.
(14:59):
So, again, I would suggest thatanybody out there is thinking
about these things sit down andtalk to somebody that has some
experience in it.
Don't take your advice at thewater cooler, so to speak, or at
the retirement breakfast tableat Hardee's or somewhere like
that.
Listen to it.
I mean, I'm not saying don'tlisten to it, but take it in as
(15:20):
part of its information.
But it's not necessarily gospel, very good advice actually Love
it, jeff.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I definitely learned something here today about
social security, which iscritical to all of us, and maybe
we can talk more about that ina in a future episode too.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Yeah, and there's some social security talk in the
great big, beautiful bill,right as President Trump calls
it.
That they got, I guess, workedthrough the House committee and
it is on its way, I think, tothe Senate.
I could be wrong about that,but I think it's on the way to
the Senate, meaning that they'retrying to eliminate all income
(15:56):
tax eliminated from SocialSecurity, which again is a
conversation to have of actuallyhow it works now, versus just
eliminating it on all SocialSecurity benefits, which would
be a boom.
I mean that would be something.
It'd be quite something if thatgets through.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Absolutely Well.
We'll definitely talk moreabout that in future episodes
and for now, thank you so much.
Love it and appreciate yourinsight, joe.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Thank you very much, Skip.
Always a pleasure to do this.
I enjoy it very much.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Absolutely Same here.
We'll see you soon, thanks.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Thanks for tuning into the Four Seasons Podcast
brought to you by B&H WealthStrategies, where your financial
success is our priority.
Schedule your free 20-minuteconsultation today by calling
423-247-1152 or by visitingbhretirecom.
Take the first step towardmaking your financial dreams
(16:54):
come true.
Until next time, remember everyseason is the right season to
plan for your future.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!