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March 27, 2024 47 mins

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Unlock the secrets to a more robust retirement income as we join forces with Lynn Toomey, CEO of Her Retirement to talk about retirement planning for midlife women! With Lynn's guidance, we expose an often-overlooked benefit for midlife women: the potential for women to claim Social Security benefits based on an ex-spouse's record. This episode is full of wisdom, revealing the eligibility quirks and strategic moves needed to bolster your financial security as you consider ALL your options for retirement.

This conversation is a roadmap for navigating the complex terrain of Social Security benefits and beyond. We tackle the big questions, like when to claim benefits to maximize your retirement income, and the little-known details, such as the impact of post-retirement work on your Social Security. With wit and clarity, Lynn helps us to construct decision trees—a tool as crucial for planning your financial future as a compass is for steering a ship.

Finally, we address the stormy seas of ageism in the workplace—a reality that can capsize careers unexpectedly and affect the best laid retirement plans. But fear not, we discuss  preparation and resilience, discussing continual upskilling, networking, and the benefits of having a solid financial plan.  As our conversation with Lynn wraps up, she shares her infectious optimism, reminding us that with the right plan and a dash of humor, retirement can be a journey to look forward to rather than a destination to fear.

Obsessions:
Tish: Piezano Pizza Oven
Ellen: Kut white demin jacket

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By listening to this podcast you agree not to use this podcast as medical advice to treat any medical condition in either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating . Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having. The  Positively Midlife Podcast is presented solely for general informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only.   Not a single word is meant to be construed as legal, financial, tax or any other kind of advice.  Consult your own financial professionals. 


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Email: postivelymidlifepod@gmail.com

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ellen (00:02):
Welcome back to the Positively Midlife podcast, and
today I want to delve into avery little known realm of
social security benefits,specifically how individuals can
claim benefits based on anex-spouse, and we have invited
our guest, lynn Tomi, to join ustoday.

Tish (00:26):
We will explore the eligibility criteria,
application process, somepotential benefits and really
those key considerations so wecan help you listeners maximize
benefits.

Ellen (00:39):
I know when I have spoken to other people approaching
their 60s, right.
So we start thinking aboutsocial security benefits and
this benefit is based on whoeverwas the higher earner with an
ex-spouse and we're going to gothrough very specifics because
there's formulas and it's 50% ofthis one and stuff like that.

(01:01):
But if you are in the situationwhere your spouse earns
significantly more than you did,this is an area that you really
need to pay attention a lot to.

Tish (01:13):
You know, tish, I remember last year when I first brought
this up to you, right?
My sister-in-law had been onTikTok of all places and she
sent me the TikTok.
I wasn't even on TikTok but shewas like, hey, maybe you need
to check this out, ellen.
I knew nothing about it andthought I had found gold.

(01:34):
Hit pager with this in mypersonal situation right, so I
think it's important for us toshare the information, as there
are a lot of women who don'tknow about this.
People can use some extra fundsheading into retirement, and I
think that Lynn is going toshare some other interesting
things with us as well.
But before we get to meetingLynn and talking about this

(01:58):
fascinating and relevant subject, let's get to our obsessions.
Tish, you know I love this partof the show.
What do you have for me thisweek?

Ellen (02:06):
Well this obsession really came out of.
I have been just shocked abouthow expensive pizza night is
right, and I don't even know howfamilies can even afford to go
get pizzas for their wholefamily.
I mean, they're up to $25 apizza, it seems.
So my obsession this week iscalled Pizzano Founder Top Pizza

(02:27):
Oven.
It only sells for $115, whichsounds like a lot for an
appliance, but if you think ofeach pizza costing $25 each,
this way you can make your own.
The pizza oven can get up to800 degrees, so it's just like a
brick oven pizza consistencywith the crust right and you can

(02:48):
put whatever you want on it.
You can make a bigger one orsmaller one, and it really cooks
up quite quickly.
So that is my obsession thisweek.

Tish (03:00):
Okay, a couple things.
One I love the name, thePizzano.
I know, all right, super cute,right, and you know me having
three boys that are now youngmen.
They can each one of them caneat a whole extra large pizza by
himself.
So I get that pizza night isnot what it once was.
It is into the hundreds if youhave three big boys like me so.

(03:23):
I will definitely be checkingout the Pizzano.

Ellen (03:27):
Yes.
What about you, Ellen?
What is your obsession for thisweek?

Tish (03:31):
Well, you know, it cracks me up why or how our obsessions
can be so different.
I always think we're going toshow up one day, tish, and have
the same obsession, have thesame.

Ellen (03:39):
We never, we're not even close.

Tish (03:41):
Not even close.
I am obsessed with a whitedenim jean jacket because it is
spring here in NorthernCalifornia and I love jean
jackets, so having a white one.
You know I don't like wearingjeans with a jean jacket.

Ellen (03:56):
So I don't know.

Tish (03:57):
You're always looking for that kind of ying to the yang,
and having a white denim jacketis just the best for the summer,
for the spring and the summer.
So I got mine out, yay.
And actually wore it yesterday,so I am obsessed with a white
denim jean jacket right now.

Ellen (04:18):
You may need to post a picture on our website.
I will, oh, do that.

Tish (04:22):
I'll post a photo.

Ellen (04:26):
Well, today I want to welcome our guest, who is a
financial planner, retirementmentor, speaker, author, podcast
host and educator, and, lynn,it is so great to have you on
our podcast today to talk aboutthis really important subject,
especially to a lot of women.

Lynn (04:45):
Thank you, thanks for having me, tish and Alan, can
you tell us a little bit aboutyourself?
Oh, boy, a little bit.
If my mom was here, she coulddo a really good job of talking
about me.
She's one of her favoritesubjects.
I'm the only girl of threeolder brothers, so I got some of
the spotlight.
But I spent a good amount of mycareer in high technology in a

(05:12):
man's world doing marketing.
And then I met my significantother who is a financial advisor
.
He's been in the financialadvising space for like 35 years
and he said oh, marketing, Ineed marketing.
Do you want to come do somevolunteer work for me?
Anyway, I said, well, I don'twant to be a volunteer, but

(05:33):
we'll rebrand your company tofocus on retirement planning.
A lot of his clients weregetting older and had a lot of
questions about retirement.
So about 12 years ago werebranded the company.
We went in 50-50 as partnersand I still co-own that practice
.
But I'm not really active in thepractice, mainly because a few

(05:53):
years back, right before COVID,we decided I had the idea to
teach a class to women and wecalled the class her retirement.
It was at a local college anduniversity, because that's what
we continue to do now online weteach a course called Retirement
Power Hours Together.
But I said let's do anall-woman class because I
started seeing so muchinformation about women and

(06:17):
their risks, the gaps and theiropportunities as they transition
into retirement One of the bestclasses we ever had.
So I quickly reserved the URL,not knowing what I was going to
do with it.
Then COVID happened andeverybody knows we got busy
cleaning groceries and makingsure we stayed in our house, but

(06:38):
anyway I had to reallytransition to the practice and
getting people working remotely,and there's a team of about
five people.
Anyway, eventually I got backto her retirement and basically
I've created what I call aretirement readiness or
retirement well-being platformwhere women can come to her
retirement and get educated,because I feel education is so

(06:59):
very important.
That's why I say, when you knowmore, you'll have more and
you'll live more.
That's what I say right on thewebsite.
Thank you, because it's soimportant that we take
responsibility to be studentsand stewards of our life and our
money and our retirement.
So it's right now.
It's an educational slash,readiness platform, well-being

(07:21):
platform.
I have a software part of thecompany where I take people
through their complete financialinventory.
The software identifies somegaps and risks and opportunities
.
There's an e-learning platform.
There's a planning platformwhere you can get educated about
what is a retirement plan,because so many people think a

(07:42):
401k is a retirement plan.
It is a plan, but it's not yourplan.
So, yeah, there's a lot offunctionality within that
platform that I've created overthe course of four years and I
keep adding to it.
And, yeah, I really enjoycoaching women through that
readiness process.
And then I am not licensed, soI am more of a personal

(08:04):
financial coach slash retirementto work and what I do is I
connect women up to theresources they might need,
whether they need investmenthelp or insurance or Medicare
long-term care, whatever theyneed from the financial
perspective.
And then the non-financialperspective, because I believe

(08:24):
for women, a better retirementisn't just about money, it's
about health, wealth andhappiness.
So I have life coaches andfitness and nutrition coaches
that I can connect women up toas well.

Ellen (08:36):
Like a one-stop shop.
I love it.

Tish (08:38):
Yeah, it sounds amazing, and what I love is it's
different for women than men,and I did read somewhere just
recently that 74% of women donot have a retirement plan and,
like you said, they're notmeaning a 401k or a pension,
it's the plan itself of all thedifferent income streams, or

(09:02):
where they're going to live andwhat their expenses are going to
be.
So I think it's so great forour listeners that we have you
here today to talk about this.
The other stat because Tishaand I love stats.
It's something we love to putout there the poverty rate for
all women over 65 and older isalmost 11%, but for single women

(09:24):
in that age group it is 20%,and so those numbers shocked me
and really make me think that,as women, we really need to get
educated, just like what yousaid.

Lynn (09:40):
Absolutely.
I mean, 80% of women die single.
So, if you like, stats, 80% ofwomen die single 59,.
The average age of a widow is59, which is another shocking
number to a lot of people.
The gray divorce rate is threetimes the rate of other divorce
rates in the country.
So I want women to understandthat they have these

(10:03):
opportunities and when they geteducated about them, they'll
make informed, better informeddecisions and they'll have
better conversations with peopleand they'll hopefully never be
sold anything again.
They'll make an informed buyingdecision in their best interest
.

Tish (10:22):
You know, then I just teach one thing I find that a
lot of women have fear aboutthis right.
Do you find that women havesome fear around, like either
knowing there's not enough, orfeeling there's not enough right
, or unprepared?

Lynn (10:38):
Yeah, I mean I would say that fear is the number one
thing that I hear from women.
My mom was a retired teacher.
She had a pension and she waslike, oh, I don't want to be a
bag lady and I don't want to bea burden on my kids.
So I have this anti-bag ladypresentation that I do and it's
kind of a syndrome.

(11:00):
Many, many women have thissyndrome and it's not affluent
based.
So even affluent women stillfear running out of money and it
causes so much stress.
So it's actually one of thethings that I say again on my
home page is this platform is tohelp you have no fear, no

(11:22):
stress, no overwhelm, nojudgment, no BS.
As I like to say no stress, noBS, because that's the first
thing I hear women say,regardless of how they're
employed, their job, wherethey're at, they're scared.
And I wake up sometimes scaredand I'm hopefully doing the

(11:42):
right things, but I'm on thejourney also because I'm in my
50s and it's something that wehope to minimize, right, because
fear is not good for us.

Ellen (11:56):
Well, I love how you say you address so many different
issues for women.
Today I want to really kind ofspecifically talk about this one
aspect of social securitybenefits that I think so many
people know nothing about.
Right, it's really not talkedabout a ton and that's how you
can qualify under your ex-spouseto receive benefits, especially

(12:22):
if they were a considerablyhigher earner.
Can you talk about what aresome of those criteria to
qualify for that benefit and howthat works?

Lynn (12:32):
Yeah, and I do want to add that social security represents
30% to 50% of most people'sguaranteed income sources, so
it's not something to be takenlightly.
I educate on social security alot.
I have 92,000 followers onTikTok and definitely social
security are my most popularvideos and people just aren't

(12:53):
informed.
The average American gets a Don a social security quiz.
So, yeah, people just kind ofthey don't understand.
And then when, if you're singleand you plan to retire and
you're not going to work, andit's pretty clear, then the
decision is prettystraightforward.
But married, divorced, widowed,lots of extra things to

(13:15):
consider and a lot of womendon't understand all of the
rules around ex-spousal or theythink, oh, he got remarried.
I can't claim.
So, if you are divorced you haveto have been married.
One criteria is 10 years, soyou have to have been married at
least 10 years.
That's one qualification.
Also, another one is that a lotof people think well, I can

(13:40):
take my own plus an X or currentspouse or survivor benefit, but
you technically the way itworks.
Well, I'll say how.
I'll explain how it workstechnically after.
But basically what happens isthey look at 100% of your
benefit versus up to 50% of yourex-spouse's benefit.

(14:01):
And why I say up to is becauseif you claim your ex-spouse will
benefit at 62, let's justassume that your benefit was
$1,000 at 62.
Well, your ex-spouse's fullretirement benefit, let's say,
is $3,000.
You wouldn't get 1,500.

(14:22):
Until your full retirement ageyou would get less.
You only get 70% of that at 62.
But when you apply they're goingto say, okay, is 100% of your
benefit greater than 50% of yourex-spouse's full retirement?
And if his benefit is greater,then you can qualify, if you

(14:43):
meet the other criteria, to takethat benefit, to take your
expulsal benefit.
But what happens is socialsecurity pays yours first and
then they top it off.
So in this case, let's say youwere full retirement age, you'd
get the 1,000 of your own, andthen they would top it off with
the 500.
So you'd get the 1,500, whichwould represent 50% of your

(15:05):
ex-spouse's.
It's a little complicated and Idon't always like explain it
that way to people becausethey're like huh, you know, you
just say, well, you're 50% ofyour ex-spouse's, but
technically they pay you plus,they top it off with the
additional benefit amount.

Tish (15:22):
I think, Lynn, that represents something that is
confusing for a lot of people,and I think what's good to me is
to hear it a few times right toreally understand it.
And then again this goes backto this planning piece, right
Before it's right there, right,you know, right there in your

(15:44):
face a month or two away is towould you advise women to kind
of run the scenarios on this, orto go to social security, Like,
how do you advise people whothink they could have this
benefit option?

Lynn (15:59):
Yeah, I wanna address that .
But I also wanna tell womenthat for ex-spousal benefits you
cannot remarry.
Okay, once you remarry, yourex-spousal benefits end.
And so a lot of people are like, well, that's not fair.
But then social security looksat it and says, well, you know,
if you are married longer toyour new spouse, you can claim

(16:19):
on that spouse.
So that's another issue.
And then there's a whole bunchof other extenuating
circumstances.
But yeah, I really reallyencourage people women to do
what's called a retirementincome projection well before
they retire At least five years,sometimes 10 years.
A couple reasons for that,specific to social security.

(16:41):
One is if you wait until threemonths because technically you
apply three months before youwant to apply, what happens is
what if there's a mistake onyour social security statement?
So this is gonna give you achance and I encourage people to
sign up for a social securityaccount as soon as they can at
ssagov and look at your socialsecurity statement and make sure

(17:03):
it's correct.
The second thing is you need toplan Like if you run that
retirement income projection, asscared or as painful as it
might be.
It's kind of like looking atthe monster under your bed.
It's like, oh, I don't wannalook cause it's scary.
But once you look and you knowwhat that income sources from

(17:26):
social security along with yourother income sources you're
gonna know what you have.
And number two is, if you havea gap, cause many, many people
have a gap between the projectedexpenses they're gonna have in
retirement and their guaranteedincome sources.
It's just knowing your cashflow.
That's what cash flow isexpenses income.
So you gotta know your cashflow.

(17:47):
Many people have a gap betweenthose guaranteed income sources
like social security, like apension if you're lucky to have
one an annuity, life insurance,a reverse mortgage those are
what's considered imminciblebonds.
Those are all consideredguaranteed income sources.
Many people have a gap, butthey can fill it.
A lot of people in today'sworld fill it with 401K savings

(18:10):
or IRAs or inheritance or rentalincome or many, many women are
continuing to work in retirement, which can impact your social
security, which is another issueto consider when you're going
to claim.
But once you do this retirementincome projection, if you've
done it the proper way, with theright help, they're going to be

(18:31):
able to advise you on when youshould claim social security.
So don't just assume the 62 isthe right age, because if you
claim early, whether it's yourbenefit, your ex-spouse's
benefit you're getting less.
You're getting a lot less thanif you waited till full
retirement age or if you waitedtill 70, if you wait till 70,

(18:52):
you're getting 124% of whateverbenefit you're eligible for.
At full retirement age you'regetting 100%.
At 62, you're getting 70%.
So it's a lot of guaranteedincome to leave on the table.
If you claim early, it's not tosay it might not be the right
decision for you.
There's a lot of factors thatgo into it and that's why I have

(19:14):
a decision tree that helpspeople answer some questions to
help them get to the rightdecision for them.
But it's definitely, mostdefinitely, integrating all your
income sources to make the bestsocial security decision for
you, because you just never knowwhat's gonna end up with the
data telling you what looks best.

(19:35):
A lot of it's guests.
Right, if we knew how longwe're going to live.
If we knew we would-.

Tish (19:40):
It's gonna make it so much easier, right, how the market
was going to perform, right,what kind of expenses we've had.
What I'm hearing is it depends,right, and I love that answer
and I hate that answer on manythings.
But that's the beauty of usingthis decision tree that you have
or some other way to reallylook and plan right and to

(20:03):
understand all of the differentoptions, the different levers
that you have to pull and whenand I think this is what I think
a lot of women, a lot of us inthis age group it's the fear.
But also, if, then what, like?
What are we going to do?
And they keep raising.

(20:24):
It feels like they keep raisingthis full retirement age on us
too, right?

Lynn (20:29):
Yeah, I mean they may end up raising it.
I mean there's clearly has tobe some changes in the social
security system because whensocial security first started it
was for everyone, every oneperson paying.
There's 45 people paying intoevery person retiring.
Now it's one to two, right so,and this is 11,000 people

(20:50):
turning 65 years old every day.
So we are an aging societythat's going to put pressure,
additional pressure, on thesocial security system.
One thing that I wanted to pointout, because I do get this
about expels with socialsecurity.
I'll get women on TikTok thatsays, oh, my husband put that in
the divorce agreement that Ican't collect on his social

(21:10):
security, and my response tothat is it cannot be agreed away
in a divorce agreement.
And if you wanna dot your eyesand cross your T's and you wanna
go back to whoever put thattogether and say you're wrong,
take it out.
You could spend your time doingthat.
But if you go claim socialsecurity, your ex-spouse is
never going to know.

(21:31):
They're not informed.
So just advocate for yourselfand go claim and see if you
qualify.

Ellen (21:38):
And here's the thing if you have a good relationship
with your ex-spouse, you havekids involved or whatever you I
think people need to understandyou are not taking any money
away from them, or they're newspouse, right?
So it doesn't impact what thenew spouse would have.
It doesn't impact what they candraw.
This is strictly what you'reentitled to in your benefits and

(22:02):
I think that's an important keyas well.

Lynn (22:05):
Absolutely.
I'm glad you brought that out,tish, because I think that goes
back to people scoring a D onsocial security.
The wife might have watched avideo or learned it, and then
you got this ex-spouse maybeit's an emotionally charged
divorce and he's like no, that'snot what Sal at the shop said,
or whatever.

Tish (22:25):
Wow.

Lynn (22:26):
Yeah, so it's I'm.
Knowledge is power and mymission is to make sure that
women I had a woman actually theother day on TikTok.
She was like oh my God, I don'teven remember what it was, but
she's like I wish I knew this 10years ago and I was like, well,
if you know, a younger womanlike you can all help each other

(22:47):
.
You can pass this information onto a younger woman who might be
in your same situation, so thatshe doesn't get to, whatever
age you are, and say, oh mygoodness, I wish I knew this 10
years ago.

Ellen (22:59):
Lynn, let me ask you this question With an ex.
If you start to draw on yourex-spouse, can you later switch,
like when you hit an age whereyou can get more of your own?
Can you switch over to yourslater?

Lynn (23:15):
No.
Once you claim on yourex-spouse, you're locked in.

Ellen (23:18):
You're locked in, okay.

Tish (23:21):
I see.
So really, the primary reasonto do that is if your ex-spouse
made a lot more money than youlike, if their benefit is bigger
.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I see.
I guess I thought that maybe Icould from 62 to my full
retirement age pull on myex-spouse and then roll over to

(23:43):
mine at full retirement age At100%, yeah, at 120% or whatever
we were just talking about.
If I made it to 70, right, butwe're saying that is not the
case, right?
You lock into one or the other.

Lynn (23:57):
Yeah, with survivor benefit, you can do that.
Yeah, so as a widow, you can dothat.

Tish (24:02):
I see and I think you answered this before, but I just
want to bring it up again Ifyour ex-spouse is deceased, does
that change the benefits in anyway?
I know you just said for acurrent spouse they have this
option.
What about for a deceasedspouse?

Lynn (24:21):
Yeah, so if your ex-spouse passes away and you're
unmarried, yes, so you couldswitch over to survivor benefit,
absolutely, and a survivorbenefit at 100%.
Yes, that's 100%, at fullretirement age.
Okay, but it is reduced if youtake it at 62.
And also, the whole workquestion comes into play.

(24:42):
Right, because if you areworking, your social security,
if you make more than$22,240,000 a year in 2024,
social security reduces yourbenefit $1 for every $2 you earn
.
So that's why that decisiontree is are you going to?
continue to work is veryimportant factor.

(25:03):
You know, for people that needthe money, then as long as you
stay under that window andthat's earned income, people get
confused because they're like,well, what if I take money out
of my 401K, that's not earnedincome, so it's only income from
working, so you can pull themoney out of your 401K to
supplement your income and ithas no impact on your social
security.
And also, people don't realizethat social security is also

(25:26):
taxed.
So for certain income, you know, I would say higher income
earnings tax planning is veryimportant because with tax
planning you can put your moneybefore retirement into some
different types of tax,different types of tax accounts
that don't have an impact onsocial security, on your

(25:46):
Medicare premiums.
So this is some interesting taxplanning strategies that some
women can take advantage of thatwon't impact social security.

Tish (25:56):
Lynn, could you repeat that number that you can make of
earned income Yep $22,240.

Ellen (26:03):
Okay, awesome, doesn't that?

Lynn (26:07):
change at 67?
Yeah, so that's up until fullretirement age.
After full retirement age, youcan make as much money as you
want, which is cool, you know.
In the closer I get to 60s, I'mlike that's not that old.

Tish (26:22):
It's not.
I mean it's true as we startbeing in our late 50s and
looking towards 60.
It seems a lot younger and moreyouthful than our parents,
that's for sure.

Ellen (26:34):
Absolutely.
I think you have to askyourself a lot of tough
questions in when you get intothis mode of when do you start
drawing?
And some of these toughquestions have to do with your
level of health, right,absolutely.
If you're not very healthy, ifyou have some type of you know
element that is going to shortenyour life considerably, that's

(26:57):
going to impact, and those aresome hard things to look at, for
sure.

Lynn (27:02):
Yeah, because you really have to live to about 77,.
I think is the first crossoverpoint where if you don't think
you're going to live past 77,then you may want to claim your
Social Security sooner thanwaiting.
But again, that's why thenumbers are part of the equation
.
The other part of the equationis how long do I think I'll live

(27:24):
?
You know what are my otherincome sources?
So it's a part of this,unfortunately, is a guessing
game, right?
There are some longevitycalculators that have given
people access to, if people wantto try to look at that.
And you know, I know we talkedabout some tips for women, but I

(27:46):
always say to women longevityis great, it's a blessing and a
curse, right, because women livelonger than men.
But in order to enjoy ourretirement more, we have to
focus on our health, because 80to 90% of our health is within
our control.
10 to 20% is genetics.

(28:08):
So we have a large control, alarge amount of control over our
health.
And so when I work with women,coach them, mentor them,
whatever you want to call it Italk about health, wealth and
happiness and I say if you planto work beyond 62, you don't
plan, you know, maybe you'regoing to leave your career and

(28:30):
start a business or whatever youwant to do.
You really need to prioritizeyour health, because so many
people plan to continue to workin retirement and they actually
don't, and a lot of the reasonsis because of health.
So, yeah, we have a lot thatwe're trying to do here, but if
you can keep your mental andphysical health one, you're

(28:52):
going to pay less in healthinsurance, which could be a
whole nother podcast.
You know you're going to enjoyyour retirement and your
grandkids and all those thingsyou dreamed about doing, and a
lot of that, as the numbers show, is in our control.
So we try to focus on what wecan control and then we take
best data based decisions on thethings that we're not sure we

(29:14):
can control and the other thingslike economics and you know
political stuff.
We try to protect ourselvesfrom those things as much as
possible.
So, market volatility you know,if you're concerned about
market volatility, take yourmoney not all of it, but take a
big chunk of your money out ofthe stock market and buy an
annuity, buy yourself aguaranteed paycheck in

(29:36):
retirement if you're worriedabout that kind of risk.
So there's ways to protectyourself from those risks.
But you know social security isan income.
You know income or inflationprotected annuity at the end of
the day it goes up every yearthat you wait drawing it and
once you claim it you get a costof living increase.
That's pretty much neck andneck historically with inflation

(29:59):
.
So yeah, it's inflationprotected annuity basically at
the end of the day, and it goesup the longer you wait to claim
it.
So it's yeah.
Now lots of decisions.

Ellen (30:10):
So when do we start all this?
What is the timeline look liketo apply?
When can we go in with socialsecurity and get these questions
, or should someone deal withsomebody like you to get all
that information before evengoing in?

Lynn (30:28):
Yeah, so when people take, I have a masterclass that I do
on retirement readiness and oneof the homework assignments in
the class is to go set up youraccount on ssagov and see what
you have.
Check your statement, make sureit looks copacetic with your
work history, check it all outand see what your benefit amount
is, because in my platformyou're going to have to fill in

(30:50):
your social security if you haveaccess to it.
I mean, you know some liketeachers and and other workers
that work for state Stateorganizations might not have
access to social security at allor just a small amount of
social security, but you have tofill in if you have a social
security income stream in theplatform.

(31:11):
So it is part of my process iswomen have to do it.
So my whole thing is you know,rather than trying to guess what
all these things are, work withme and I will give you the
checklist of all the things youhave to do.
But, yeah, I would say you knowfive to 10 years out at least,
and then you apply for socialsecurity about three months

(31:34):
before before your your claimingage and yeah, that's pretty
much it.
I mean, if you're, if you'reclaiming survivor benefits, you
have to go in person because youhave to bring some documents
with you.
I've been told that you canclaim ex spouse over the phone
as long as you have date ofmarriage, date of divorce and

(31:56):
you have some documents if theyneed them.
So you know, I've heard mixedthings about that.
I think sometimes with socialsecurity, like any government
organization, it kind of dependson the person you get on the
other end of the phone,unfortunately, or in the local
office.
You know this is good and badin every profession.

(32:18):
So I always tell women, youknow, if it, if it doesn't jive
with what you've learned, call,call back or go to the local
office and then never take.
You know I've had women go butthey just told me like no, and I
, you know I hung up andwhatever I was like well, should
they explain why you're notgoing to get the benefit?
Like you need it in writing?

(32:39):
They need to show you the rule,because some of the things I've
heard I'm like that doesn'teven make any sense.
I've never even heard of that.
Like, just, I get a lot ofcomments.

Tish (32:50):
You know, I think advocating for yourself being
informed, this whole idea of inyour 50s, right as you're
approaching, planning andeducating, is so important.
It's really imperative, and theidea of sticking your head in
the sand, so to speak, is just.

(33:12):
All of us women have to get outof that mindset.
If we're in it right,absolutely get out of it.
And I know the one thing I'veheard a lot too is that you know
the thing you can do is loweryour expenses to if there's that
gap, and I know a number ofpeople who have roommates right

(33:34):
or have moved.
I think a lot of people move inretirement to go to states that
have no state income tax or youknow the cost of living and the
housing is less, and so I thinkit's important to just talk
about those things too, right?
It's like that closing that gap, lynn, like you said, can have
so many different parameters toit.
Yeah, housing.

Lynn (33:56):
Housing is probably number one expense and so I do talk to
people like one of thequestions I ask is do you have a
plan for where you're going tolive?
What are your housing costs?
As far as social security,there still are 10.
I keep losing track becausethey keep changing it, but like
this, 10 or 11 states that taxsocial security also, so you

(34:16):
could be federally taxed andstate taxed depending on where
you live.
But if you're open, you know,even living abroad, you know I
just I'm all about like medicaltourism right now, because I've
been looking into some sillylittle things I have going on
and I'm like why am I going tospend $2,000 on a TMJ mouth
guard when I could like go domedical tourism, go on vacation

(34:38):
and get some for like $500somewhere?

Ellen (34:40):
I love it.

Lynn (34:42):
But there are ways, you know, if you're open and
somewhat flexible.
Unfortunately, you know a lotof moms that are retired want to
be grandmoms, so they have tolive where their kids live and
sometimes that's might not bethe same place.
That's good for retirees likeTennessee is a great state, but

(35:02):
you know, I have three kids andif when they have kids, I'm
probably not going to live toofar away from them.
But yeah, I mean there's.
There's a Facebook group calledretiring on a shoestring and
it's an interesting Facebookgroup because they share a lot
of tips and ways to live morefrugally.

(35:23):
More, if you're retiring on ashoestring, how to do it more
frugally.
One thing I know I think I saidthe wrong amount for the Social
Security in comments 22, 320,trying to keep all these numbers
straight.
Sometimes it's like that, it'slike the 58 year old brain cramp
and it's like that's why I havemy cheat sheet.

Ellen (35:43):
But it can change.
It can change from year to year.
So somebody needs to understand.
Like you know, the age could goup, the amount can go up, could
go down.
You know a lot of changes canhappen, one of the big
considerations.
So say someone ops at 62 yearsold to start drawing Social
Security benefits, can they alsodraw Medicare if they draw

(36:04):
their benefits early?

Lynn (36:06):
No, medicare doesn't kick in until 65.
So that's one of the decisiontree questions is do you have
medical coverage for those threeyears?
Because so many people it's.
It's a really weird system.
I have no idea why it's set uplike that, because you pay for
your Medicare out of your SocialSecurity.

(36:26):
But, yeah, you need a plan tocover that gap, whether it's you
know, through, you know,working at Starbucks I know they
provide benefits because I sawthe sign the other day when I
went in there.
Or you know, through theaffordable care, or through a
spouse, you know, whatever itmight be.
Or maybe you can negotiate withyour full time employer to keep

(36:49):
your benefits for a few years.
Or, you know, in some cases youcan't.
You can't retire at 62 becauseyou don't have the savings to
fund that gap.
I have a friend who's got thefund, you know, to pay for the
gap between 62 and 65.
But yeah, so that's a that's anissue for sure.

Ellen (37:11):
Yeah.
And a part time job isn'talways going to have that
benefit.
You know, if you're capped withthe 22,000 and change and
income, the income it comes from, if it's part time, may not
have that benefit.
So that's another bigconsideration for sure.

Lynn (37:28):
Yeah, I have one other question.
I get a lot on expousalbenefits is can I I'm older,
let's say, you know, I get olderthan my spouse Can I claim when
I turn 62?
And so your spouse doesn't haveto be claiming in order for you
to claim, but he he in thiscase he, because we're talking

(37:49):
about women in this case he hasto be 62, but he doesn't have to
be claiming as long as you'vebeen divorced for two years.
So a lot of people don't knowthat as long as or you know,
they just don't they don't knowthat they can claim.
They think they have to waituntil the husband, or the
ex-husband in this case isclaiming.

(38:09):
But you can claim as long asyou've been divorced for two
years and he's at least 62.
So these little ins and outs.

Ellen (38:17):
Yeah.

Lynn (38:18):
That's why I created a social security kit with all the
, with the cheat sheets and an Eclass and the decision tree,
and just it's.
It's a kit that I created tohelp women get educated and have
the information at theirfingertips, versus, you know,
going down the Google rabbithole or trying to find it.
Social security website has allthis information too.
Yeah, it's just you know,taking the time to comb through

(38:40):
it.

Tish (38:41):
Yeah, you know, the other thing we didn't talk about and I
just want to put this out heretoo is that I am in the tech
industry.
There have been a lot oflayoffs.
I think there is a lot ofageism and I think sometimes
people can't stay working aslong as they'd like in that
career that they always thoughtthey could.

(39:02):
I always thought it was like alinear.
Oh, I can work to 66 makingthis amount doing this kind of
job.
But I see a lot of thathappening where people are
almost like forced to retire ina way.
Lynn, do you have a kind of apoint of view on that?

Lynn (39:17):
Yeah, unfortunately.
I mean, I think we're kind offorging new territory here,
especially for the peopleturning 65, because I think
eventually corporations aren'tgoing to be able to be agist.
They're just not going to havethe workforce.
So they're going to have tounderstand the value that an
older workforce brings anexperienced workforce, and it's

(39:42):
going to change when that willchange.
I mean, I think some companiesare starting to change it.
They're starting to retain.
I work with people who aresaying my company wants to
retain me because I have theskills and they want me to train
the younger guys or gals.
So I think we're starting tosee a little of that.
There's a huge initiative that Isee on ageism and anti-ageism

(40:06):
in the workplace and lots ofpeople out there advocating for
anti-ageism.
But yeah, it really stinks ifyou're in that situation.
So what I like to talk to womenabout is what are some other
things that you can put in placebefore that might happen to you
?
Think about some training orsome other areas that you could

(40:30):
earn an income if that happensto you.
So be prepared.
Preparation is always awonderful thing.
So if you can try to be prepared, think ahead.
It's hard for people to thinkahead because we're so present,
focused.
But yeah, if you can try to say, you know what?

(40:50):
I could end up laid off, Icould end up a widow, I could
end up divorced.
I need to be prepared for thesethings that could happen to me.
And so the working one is oneor be on the lookout for other
opportunities, or get out thereand network.
If you've never networkedbefore, just have that plan B

(41:15):
should the SHIT hit the fan withyour work and you find yourself
65 and unable to stay in yourindustry.
I talked to the woman who thatactually happened to, and she
was in a very, very niche areain nursing, and she was just

(41:38):
like they're just replacing allof us with really young women,
and so I said you know what?
I think you could probably usea coach, someone that can help
you think through all yourskillset to see how you can
reinvent yourself career-wise,because she really didn't want
to stop at 60.
You are.

(42:00):
Not to think about as far asthat goes.

Ellen (42:03):
So I just want our listeners to kind of understand
at this point these benefits,retirement and social security.
It can be all be so complex andcomplicated whether to draw on
your own benefits or use yourex-spouse, what age you should
start to elect to start drawingon those funds.
So I would encourage ourlisteners to really explore all

(42:27):
their options as early on aspossible.
Like Lynn was saying, and youknow, consider setting up an
appointment with Social SecurityAdministration.
Really seek someone out, likeLynn, who has all these
resources and tools and coursesand packets that can help you in
this financial planning andjust so you're educated going

(42:49):
into this, Right, and I'm justgoing to add do not be afraid.

Tish (42:54):
I think that that is one of the big messages that I'm
taking away from today as well,and I know we'll put links in
our show notes to Lynn and hermaster class and some of her
other resources.
But before we go today, lynn,we'd love to ask you our guests
love this what is yoursuperpower?

Lynn (43:16):
Well, it's funny.
You all mentioned that.
I actually should have that inmy background because I have
this caricature of myself as asuperhero, with her across the
chest, because I love this thingthat I trademark to be the her
and hero.
So you know, if you just havethis mantra that you repeat to
yourself when you're scared, Isuffered from anxiety, which is

(43:37):
fear, and you know, I have thesemantras that I just repeat to
myself when I'm scared ofabsolutely nothing.
So I think you know whatever wecan do to establish, you know,
that mantra, whether it's theher and hero, I'm the her and
hero, whatever it might be.
I think that that is somethingthat people can do.
But I think, in terms of mysuperpower is, I would probably

(44:03):
have to say that it's my humor,my mom.
I inherited a sense of humorfrom my mom and she was like the
most optimistic person in theworld.
She was diagnosed with ovariancancer and they said she was
going to get chemo.
And you know, when I'd go topick her up, she was like, oh
goody, it's chemo day and I'mlike who's that?

(44:26):
But she was.
So she loved all her nurses andthe people there and you know,
I don't know if it was becauseit happened during COVID and it
was just people.
But she was like the mostoptimistic person and I believe
I've inherited her optimism andsense of humor and I think that
that can help fear because, Idon't know, we take life so

(44:49):
seriously and it goes by likethat.
So we just have to find the joyand the sense of humor and you
know whether, whether we'relooking at those finances or you
know, in a tough situation, wealways try to find the sense of
humor in that.
So I think that's probably mysuperpower and I like to make

(45:09):
people laugh.

Tish (45:10):
So I love it.
Thank you for sharing.

Ellen (45:14):
Yeah, I love that.
Well, before we were kind ofwrapping up here, right, I'd
love to give a shout out to someof our newer listeners to the
podcast from Lakeland, florida,from Santan Valley, arizona, and
from Silver Spring, maryland.
Welcome, thank you for joiningus.
And remember, ladies, of allthe episodes, this may be the

(45:38):
most important one to share withother women in your life and
they could be younger because,like Lynn was saying, the
earlier we start this planning,the earlier we know what's going
on, the better situation we'regoing to be in going forward.
So definitely share, share,share this episode with any
ladies you think need to hearthis message.

Tish (46:01):
That's right, tish.
Okay, ladies, get informed now,spread the word, give yourself
time to get prepared and enjoyretirement.
Lynn, thank you so much forjoining us today and yes, till
next week midlifeers.
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