Do These Simple Things and Boost Your Social Security Income by Hundreds of Dollars Each Month
Smart Americans are doing this everyday!
The Do-Over Strategy
This simple technique, requiring just one form (SS Form 521) could increase your Social Security check by over 75%. Kiplinger Magazine* says less than 1% of the 32 million retirees getting Social Security are using this obscure loophole. Are you part of the 1% in the know or the 99% who are missing out?
- If your Retirement Social Security check is $1,200 … that would be like bumping it up to $2,100 a month!
- What’s even cooler is by using this technique you qualify for additional tax deductions and credits!
* Source: Kiplinger Magazine July 2008
* Amount of increase depends on age, Social Security Monthly benefit, age upon first withdrawal of Retirement Social Security. Check with your Financial Advisor and accountant to see how this technique would work for you use this disclaimer for all of these techniques
The Married With Benefits Strategy
You have to be married to use this strategy. Kiplinger Personal Finance columnist Mary Beth Franklin estimates this loophole could boost your Social Security income by 30%. This one doesn’t even require you to fill out a form! It just requires a little bit of team work by a couple and smart timing.
- By timing when the husband and the wife apply for Social Security exactly right … You can significantly increase your Social Security check. And you didn’t have to work a minute longer to get thousands of additional dollars.
Suspend and Increase Technique
This technique was described in the Wall Street Journal. This technique again requires you to be married. But if you are married, you could increase your monthly income by $1,000 a month!
- You can thank the Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act of 2000 for this little gem.
- The Boston College Center of Retirement Research says: “This strategy is very helpful to those who earn enough to support themselves, because it allows them to increase the amount of future monthly Social Security benefits – a special kind of income that is fully inflation adjusted and payable for life.”
The Little Squirt Technique
In today’s economy and lifestyle environment, many people that are receiving Social Security Retirement are also caring for children or grandchildren. If you are the parent of a minor child or are responsible for a grandchild, you could begin collecting $1,000 a month from Social Security in that child’s name. You must spend it on the child but in today’s world, it costs more than $1,000 a month to support a child with food, clothing, and future education saving.
Reduce or eliminate the income tax you are paying on your Social Security Benefits
The rules for taxation of Social Security benefits are complicated and you should speak with a tax professional … but it may be worth thousands of dollars to you. A study at the Wharton School of Business discovered this twist on how to potentially reduce the taxes you pay on Social Security … or possibly eliminate them completely.
- This technique times your IRA and 401(k) withdrawals with your Social Security withdrawals … According Wharton’s numbers, you savings could run into the tens of thousands!
Find out more
To find out how to accomplish these techniques that will put thousands of dollars in your pocket … simply by using the Social Security system more effectively:
- Boston College Retirement Research Center Paper detailing exactly how to utilize these techniques
- Schedule a no obligation meeting to walk through exactly how these techniques could work for you
Do the Splits and Watch Your Income Applaud!
This Simple Technique Can Increase Your Income … Your assets … or both!
By using the technique called Split Funding, you can provide a number of financial benefits:
- Create a reliable income stream that is 97% Tax Free
- Create an income stream that may allow you to continue seek growth in your portfolio with worry that it will affect next month’s income
- Possibly reduce or eliminate the taxes you pay on your Social Security benefits
- Grow your assets faster without affecting your retirement income by utilizing the unique tax benefits of split funding
Click to download a Mutual Fund vs. Split Funding Example
Advantages:
- Income from the Immediate Annuity is Guaranteed for the entire 10 years. You can now more comfortably be aggressive with the rest of your investments should you choose. This would allow you to have a more long term view with your growth investments.
- You could be paying less income tax
- Your spendable income would go up
- The tax you pay on your Social Security benefit could go down or be eliminated completely
Disadvantages:
- The money deposited in the immediate annuity is turned into a guaranteed stream of income for 10 years. This means the principal invested in the immediate annuity is no able to be withdrawn except in the form of guaranteed monthly or annual payments to you.
Are You Ready for the Huge Change the Government is Planning to Make to Your 401k?
And for once … they got it right. That is, if you are ready for it.
Immediate Fixed Annuity Promoted by President Obama and Congress
The Obama administration, along with a growing number of congressmen and senators, are big fans of annuities. According to Ron Leiber of The Boston Globe, “The unloved annuity gets a big hug from the president.” President Obama discussed annuities widely in a report from his Middle Class Task Force. The administration and several in Congress are promoting annuities as a method to help Americans gain a safe and comfortable retirement.
Here’s a great explanation why he and others now think it’s a good idea: http://www.irionline.org/news/article/id/368
Annuities allow a person to exchange for a lump sum of money for a guaranteed monthly income check for the rest of their lives.
Annuities are one of the few products available to overcome the longevity risk of running out of money during retirement.
After decades of being the “ugly duckling” in the investment world, annuities are now being touted an extremely viable … if not necessary tool for retirees to consider in their retirement planning. Investors who previously steered away from annuities may want to take a second look at this unique product.
An immediate fixed annuity is a simple form of annuity.
It is also considered the least “risky” of annuities from many viewpoints. Different from its cousin, variable annuities, it is simple, easy to understand and what you see (in most cases) is what you get. Probably the biggest fear investors have with immediate annuities is losing the money if they die unexpectedly. However, there are now options available to add a spouse or other another of your choice onto your annuity to receive payments for a specified period of time if you die. Inflation used to be another risk that worried investors, but with the option to purchase an annuity that rises with the consumer price index, you can avoid that as well. The President and Congress is considering issuing tax incentives for investors to purchase annuities for retirement along with requiring plan administrators of 401(k)’s to show employees the monthly payments they could receive with annuities to help promote them even more.
Building a CD Ladder to Create Higher Income
Laddering CDs can both increase your CD income and reduce the risk you’ll lock into a low interest rate
Laddering CDs can both increase your CD income and reduce the risk you’ll lock into a low interest rate…
…right before interest rates take off. Laddering a CD portfolio is a lot like diversifying your stock portfolio. You don’t invest all your CD money into just one or two CDs.
That way you also are never more than a year or so away from at least some of your money becoming available.
Here's how laddering CDs works:
If you have $50,000 you’ll by one $10,000 1-year CD, a $10,000 CD for two years, and another at three, four and five years. Each year forms a “rung” on your ladder. When the 1-year CD matures, you simply “go to the back of the line” with it. You reinvest that money in a five-year CD because by that time your five-year CD has four years left until it matures. As each year’s CD comes due, you continue to roll it into a five-year CD.
The great thing about laddered CDs, is you get more liquidity while offering a more stable source of income … all without worrying about locking in at a low rate of return.
Example CD rates are used for explanation purposes only. For the best rates in your area go here link to our CD rate check in the CD portion.
Bob’s CD Plan
Bob buys a $50,000 1-year CD and reinvested each year into another one-year CDs at the following rates:
| Year | Rate |
|---|---|
| Initial purchase | 1.52% |
| End of year 1 | 2.01% |
| End of year 2 | 2.32% |
| End of year 3 | 3.01% |
| End of year 4 | 2.25% |
| End of year 5 | 3.51% |
Investor B: Laddered portfolio
Mary bought $10,000 each of a one, two, three, four and five-year CD and then as each CD matured, reinvested it in a 5-year CD as discussed earlier. The CD rates were as follows:
| Initial investment | Buy when initial CD matures |
|---|---|
| 1 year @ 1.52% | 5 years @ 4.42% |
| 2 years @ 1.75% | 5 years @ 4.71% |
| 3 years @ 1.92% | 5 years @ 5.20% |
| 4 years @ 2.25% | 5 years @ 5.01% |
| 5 years @ 3.41% | 5 years @ 5.75% |
Income comparison: 1-year renewal vs. laddered portfolio
Let’s compare the annual income stream generated from these two strategies.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | This Year | Total Income | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-year renewal | $760 | $1,005 | $1,160 | $1,500 | $1,125 | $1,755 | $7,305 |
| Investor B | $1,085 | $1,375 | $1,671 | $1,999 | $2,275 | $2,509 | $10,914 |
Mary’s laddered-CD plan (Investor B) returned $3,609 more interest income during the six-year period. laddering also provided a steadier stream of income.
If you are not satisfied with CD rates, consider these alternatives.
Want Help Increasing Your Income?
- Get the inside story on how the wealthy wring more income out of the tax system than you and I … the real secret is that we can do the exact same things and get far more income
- Go through the back door and get far more income than those just following the crowd through the front door
- When You go through the back door you could increase your income without lifting a finger