Test Your Basic Social Security Knowledge

Baby boomers  are anxious and confused about how Social Security will best fit into their retirement income plans. Millions of words about Social Security have been published online and in print in recent years, all intended to educate us. Yet a knowledge gap remains.

A recent academic study demonstrated that many Americans approaching retirement lack basic knowledge of how Social Security retirement benefits work and how the rules might affect them. This ignorance can lead to a failure to claim benefits that should be received. Money that should go to retirees is being left on the table.

So how much do you know about Social Security? Let’s find out by using the four important questions asked in the survey.  Write down your answers then scroll down to the correct information below:

1. What’s the minimum age for you to begin collecting Social Security retirement benefits?
2. What’s the earliest age at which your are entitled to full benefits that cannot be reduced by any outside earnings?
3. If you delay claiming Social Security, what’s the maximum age at which your benefits will no longer increase each year (other than cost of living adjustments)?
4. How many years must you have worked to be eligible for Social Security payments when you retire?

Here are the correct answers and the survey results:

1.  The minimum Social Security eligibility age is 62.  (48 percent of survey participants got this right.)

2.  Depending on when you were born, your full retirement age is between 65 and 67.  (Approximately 2/3 of those surveyed answered this correctly.)

3.  Once you reach age 70, benefits no longer increase.  (Only 23 percent of survey participants knew this.)

4.  To earn the minimum work credits for Social Security retirement benefits, you must work the equivalent of 10 years  (or 40 quarters of earnings over a longer period).  (Only 22 percent of those surveyed answered this question correctly.)

So how did you do?

If you didn’t know the answer to all of these important questions that can affect your retirement income, I encourage you to do some reading. You can start right here because I’ve done a lot of research and writing about Social Security myself.  You can find it all by scrolling over “Retirement Planning” in the navigation bar above, then selecting “Social Security” from the drop down menu. Or, go straight to this Social Security category page.

It could mean more money for you.

Photo credit:  Marco Bellucci

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