Social Security

<p>Read this class to learn how to avoid some of the most common Social Security mistakes that could reduce your benefits.</p>

About This Class

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><em>Last Updated: April 3, 2026</em></h6>
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<p>The landscape of Social Security is complicated and there are real financial risks for people who get things wrong.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In fact, in fiscal year 2023, the Social Security Administration made more than $23 billion in overpayments. What does that mean for those receiving Social Security benefits? Unfortunately, it sometimes results in clawbacks. And it&rsquo;s not just about clawbacks. Little tweaks to how you claim your benefits&mdash;and when you begin receiving payments&mdash;can impact your retirement finances.</p>
<p>The best way to protect yourself is by understanding the process and avoiding some of the most common Social Security mistakes.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In this class, we&rsquo;ll address the following items:</p>
<ul>
<li>How to decide the best time for you to file</li>
<li>Mistakes commonly made when claiming your benefits&mdash;or deciding to claim spousal benefits</li>
<li>What happens to your benefits when you work while claiming Social Security benefits</li>
<li>Tax implications of receiving Social Security benefits</li>
<li>Other considerations to keep in mind so you&rsquo;re less likely to make Social Security mistakes</li>
<li>Summary of the class and the main points to keep in mind to avoid the worst Social Security mistakes</li>
</ul>

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<h6 style="text-align: right;"><em>Last Updated: December 30, 2025</em></h6>
<p>Deciding when to file can be one of the trickiest parts of claiming your Social Security benefits. The Social Security Administration bases how much you receive each month on your work history and earnings, as well as your &ldquo;full retirement age.&rdquo; Plus, when you elect your own Social Security can have an impact on spousal benefits as well.</p>
<p>Full retirement age is determined by when you were born. For example, if you were born before 1955, your full retirement age is 66. However, if you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67.</p>
<p>No matter when your full retirement age is, though, you can begin taking benefits at age 62 or delay taking benefits until past age 70 (though delaying past 70 won&rsquo;t increase your benefits). Taking Social Security too early or too late can impact your retirement finances. However, too early or too late isn&rsquo;t just about whether you claim benefits at age 62 or wait until much later.</p>
<p>Determining the right time for you should also include a review of your break even point, the age at which you&rsquo;ll earn more overall from claiming benefits at a later age rather than an earlier one. Knowing this point is important if you think you might live past this age, since it may make sense to delay your election in that case.</p>
<h2>Mistake: Taking benefits too early</h2>
<p>While it&rsquo;s possible to take benefits at age 62, that&rsquo;s not always the best option. For each year you claim Social Security before your full retirement age, you see a reduction in monthly benefits. Additionally, by waiting you could see a bump of 6% at your full retirement age and 8% between that age and when you turn 70 for every year you put off claiming benefits.</p>
<p>For those who have certain retirement accounts&mdash;especially traditional accounts with required minimum distributions (RMDs)&mdash;it might make more sense to draw down those accounts between ages 62 and 70. Remember, if you take Social Security early (before you really need it) while you're also drawing down accounts with RMDs, you might have a higher tax bill as a result.</p>
<p>Then, you have increased monthly benefits from Social Security and can adjust withdrawals from other accounts accordingly.,</p>
<h2>Mistake: Taking benefits too late</h2>
<p>Even though you could see a bump in monthly benefits, it doesn&rsquo;t always make sense to wait until age 70 to start claiming them. You might be able to benefit from taking payments starting at full retirement age rather than waiting until later, particularly in certain situations.</p>
<p>For one thing, spousal benefits can&rsquo;t be delayed past their full retirement age, so you won&rsquo;t get an additional benefit if you wait. Also, check your break even point. If longevity isn&rsquo;t on you or your spouse&rsquo;s side when it comes to your Social Security benefits it may not make sense to delay claiming.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s also important to note that you won&rsquo;t see an additional bump in Social Security income past age 70. If you wait until after that age to claim your benefits, you won&rsquo;t see a better outcome, so waiting until then could be detrimental&mdash;especially if you know you&rsquo;ll need the money.</p>
<p>Finally, consider factors such as your health and the size of your nest egg in tax-advantaged retirement accounts. Claiming benefits at age 62 might make sense if you have health issues that might reduce your ability to enjoy higher payments later. Additionally, if your nest egg isn&rsquo;t large enough to support you without Social Security income, starting benefits at 62 might make sense to provide needed cash flow.</p>
<h2>Mistake: Misunderstanding the timing of benefits</h2>
<p>Remember, when you file for Social Security the timeline for receiving your first payment depends on a few different factors. Benefits don&rsquo;t start on your birthday, but in fact the month following your birthday, and are not prorated. If your birthday falls between:</p>
<ul>
<li>The 1st and the 10th of the month: Payment will be issued on the second Wednesday of the month following your birthday month.</li>
<li>The 11th and the 20th of the month: Payment will be issued on the third Wednesday after your birthday month.&nbsp;</li>
<li>From the 21st through the last day of the month: Payment will be issued on the fourth Wednesday of the month following your birthday.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>To help you plan for your ideal election age, check out our <a href="/retirement-score/break-even-calculator" rel="follow">Social Security Break-Even Calculator</a> to find out your break-even&nbsp;age&nbsp;and discover the moment in your life when the amount of money from choosing to take earlier benefits equals the total amount you would&rsquo;ve received if you delayed electing benefits.</p>

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><em>Last Updated: December 30, 2025</em></h6>
<p>As you prepare to claim Social Security, you also need to consider whether a spousal benefit will be involved. Additionally, you also need to avoid mistakes related to survivor&rsquo;s benefits if you&rsquo;re eligible to claim those when a spouse passes. Here are some things to keep in mind as you consider claiming your benefits vs. getting a spousal benefit.</p>
<h2>Mistake: Claiming a spousal benefit</h2>
<p>One common mistake some couples make has to do with the idea of filing for spousal benefits and then delaying taking your benefits until age 70 when you can get a higher amount. The theory behind this approach was that if you&rsquo;re younger than your spouse, you could claim spousal benefits as soon as your spouse began taking their Social Security benefits. Instead of taking your own benefits when reaching full retirement age, you could receive benefits based on your spouse&rsquo;s work history, then enjoy the higher monthly amount after delaying your benefits.</p>
<p>However, due to a law passed in 2015, you can no longer claim spousal benefits while delaying your own retirement benefit. Instead, the current rule is called &ldquo;deemed&rdquo; filing. If you&rsquo;re at least 62 and you file for benefits based on your spouse&rsquo;s record, you&rsquo;re considered to have filed for your own benefits at the same time. On top of that, the highest of your two spousal benefits will kick in at full retirement age, so there is no benefit to deferring for your spouse&rsquo;s Social Security benefit.</p>
<p>The good news, however, is that if you are eligible for both spousal and your own retirement benefits, if you participate in deemed filing, you&rsquo;ll get the higher of the two benefit amounts. Realize, though, that claiming benefits before full retirement age will result in reduced benefits overall. You&rsquo;ll see a reduced spousal benefit <em>and </em>a reduced retirement benefit.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s also important to understand that you don&rsquo;t have to take a spousal benefit. You can put off filing for Social Security benefits even if your spouse is receiving their payments. Run the numbers to see if it makes sense to try for spousal benefits in addition to your own benefits, or if it makes sense to just rely on your own retirement benefits alone.</p>
<h2>Mistake: Survivor&rsquo;s benefits</h2>
<p>Another mistake some retirees have made since the 2015 law is the assumption that survivor&rsquo;s benefits are part of deemed filing. You might be worried about filing for widow&rsquo;s or widower&rsquo;s Social Security benefits because you don&rsquo;t want to trigger your own retirement requirement.</p>
<p>Luckily, the law allows you to file for survivor&rsquo;s benefits separately from your retirement benefits. For example, if you&rsquo;re 63 and your spouse passes, you can file for benefits based on the deceased&rsquo;s record and delay filing for your Social Security benefits until later. This allows you to receive benefits and still let your own Social Security grow. In fact, if your finances warrant it, you could wait until age 70 to file for your own benefits, taking advantage of the increased monthly payment later.</p>
<p>Social Security pays a surviving spouse a one-time, lump sum death benefit of $255<sup>1</sup>, in addition to their usual monthly payment. If there is no surviving spouse, this payment can go to a child who is eligible for benefits on the deceased&rsquo;s account. However, if the deceased is receiving regular monthly benefits and they keep coming for a month or two after death, you&rsquo;ll need to return them to the Social Security Administration.<sup>2</sup> For instance, if your spouse dies in April you will need to return any benefits paid in May and later. That means that if they die in the middle of the month any benefits for that month will need to be returned.</p>
<h2>Mistake: Miscalculating divorced spousal benefits</h2>
<p>Some retirees don&rsquo;t realize that they can consider a former spouse&rsquo;s record when claiming Social Security benefits. However, there are a few mistakes people might make when considering benefits from a former spouse:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Length of marriage</strong>: You have to have been married to your ex for at least 10 years to claim benefits on their record.</li>
<li><strong>Remarriage</strong>: If you remarried, you can&rsquo;t claim benefits on a former spouse&rsquo;s record, unless you remarried after age 60. Keep this in mind if you think an ex&rsquo;s record might result in a higher benefit than a potential spouse.</li>
<li><strong>Later divorce</strong>: Losing a later spouse makes you eligible to claim your first ex&rsquo;s benefits again. If you might be able to see a higher payout from an ex&rsquo;s benefits than from your most recent spouse&rsquo;s survivor&rsquo;s benefits, it might make sense to make that choice.</li>
<li><strong>You don&rsquo;t have to wait until your ex claims their benefits</strong>: Some retirees mistakenly think that their ex must be claiming benefits. As long as you&rsquo;re at least 62 and they&rsquo;re at least 62 (and you&rsquo;ve been divorced for at least two years), you can claim benefits. Your claim won&rsquo;t force your ex to start receiving benefits, nor will it impact their benefits later.</li>
<li><strong>You can&rsquo;t claim benefits on both your ex&rsquo;s record and your own record</strong>: If your retirement benefit is different than what you&rsquo;d get based on your ex&rsquo;s record, you&rsquo;ll get the higher amount. However, you can&rsquo;t receive both benefits at the same time.</li>
</ul>
<p>A big mistake in many divorce negotiations is related to the fact that an ex-spousal benefit is only 50% of the married benefit, meaning your ex spouse will get a benefit that&rsquo;s twice what you get as an ex-spouse benefit.</p>
<p>Run the numbers if you qualify for benefits based on an ex-spouse&rsquo;s record. You might be surprised to learn that you can get a bit of a boost.</p>
<h4>SOURCES</h4>
<ol>
<li>&ldquo;Who can get Survivor benefits&rdquo; SSA.gov,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/eligibility">https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/eligibility</a>. Accessed 30 December 2025.</li>
<li>Ibid.</li>
</ol>

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><em>Last Updated: December 30, 2025</em></h6>
<p>It&rsquo;s not uncommon for retirees to return to work&mdash;part-time or full-time&mdash;later on. However, increasing your income during retirement can trigger certain issues if you&rsquo;re already claiming Social Security benefits.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Mistake: Overlooking the impact of retirement work on your early benefits&nbsp;</h2>
<p>The good news is that once you reach full retirement age, you don&rsquo;t have to worry about reduced benefits, no matter how much you make.</p>
<p>If you started claiming Social Security benefits before full retirement age, there are some things to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>There&rsquo;s an annual earnings limit of $24,480 as of 2026.<sup>1</sup> Once you reach that limit, the benefits you receive can be reduced, depending on your age. For instance, if you&rsquo;re retired and working while still younger than your full retirement age2 (67 for those born in 1960 and later), Social Security will deduct $1 from your benefits check for each $2 you earn over $24,480 (though this drops to $1 for every $3 over $65,160 if you&rsquo;re reaching full retirement age in 2026). Once you&rsquo;ve reached your full retirement age you may keep all of your Social Security benefits, no matter how much you earn.&nbsp;</li>
<li>You can stop receiving Social Security benefits while you work, but you must apply for a &ldquo;withdrawal of benefits&rdquo; within 12 months of filing for Social Security.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>For those who think that they will want a change of career instead of a true retirement, it might make sense to file for benefits while looking for a job, but then suspend those benefits once they find work (as long as it&rsquo;s within those 12 months). It&rsquo;s important to avoid the mistake of believing that you can essentially stop and restart Social Security retirement benefits at any time.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The good news is that if your income results in higher benefits down the road, due to paying your Social Security taxes on your second-act job, you&rsquo;ll see your monthly payment adjusted upward. Just keep in mind other potential consequences.</p>
<h2>Mistake: Working off the books</h2>
<p>This is a Social Security mistake that you might make early on, before retirement, or during retirement. When you&rsquo;re paid officially, you and your employer contribute to Social Security through payroll taxes, and that impacts your benefits. Watch out for these mistakes:</p>
<ul>
<li>If you&rsquo;re an unpaid caregiver, you aren&rsquo;t seeing benefits. Check with your state about arrangements that could result in being a paid caregiver and earning Social Security credits for what you do.</li>
<li>Receiving money &ldquo;under the table&rdquo; for different jobs or work can impact your Social Security earnings and benefits later. For example, unreported tips or receiving cash for odd jobs won&rsquo;t help you receive higher benefits.</li>
<li>Having a business with your partner can result in unreported earnings as well. If you&rsquo;re self-employed with a partnership structure but assign the bulk of &ldquo;on paper&rdquo; earnings to your LLC &ldquo;general member&rdquo; spouse, you won&rsquo;t be paying as much in self-employment tax, but you also won&rsquo;t be building as much in future Social Security benefits.</li>
</ul>
<p>Carefully weigh your current tax savings by paying less in Social Security taxes against your potential monthly benefits later. Depending on your situation, whether you can claim spousal benefits and other factors, it might be a mistake to have unreported income.</p>
<h2>Mistake: Overlooking the Social Security limitations related to your job</h2>
<p>Pay attention to the retirement structures associated with certain public sector jobs.&nbsp;</p>
<p>For example, in some cases, teachers aren&rsquo;t eligible for Social Security benefits on their own and might end up with some type of reduced spousal benefits in addition to their pensions. The reason is that many teachers don&rsquo;t pay into the Social Security system, as eligibility depends on the state and school district they work in. Some states offer options such as pension and other defined benefits, and the same applies to certain federal workers due to other retirement arrangements from their agencies.</p>
<p>Don&rsquo;t make the mistake of assuming that every job is helping you build Social Security retirement benefits, because it might not be happening.</p>
<h2>What about incorrect wage history?</h2>
<p>One of the best things you can do is check your Social Security statement regularly. You should receive one each year. It details how many credits you&rsquo;ve accrued, as well as helps you estimate your potential benefits. You can also see your wage history and verify that it&rsquo;s accurate.</p>
<p>If your wage history is inaccurate and doesn&rsquo;t reflect your true earnings, your benefits could be lower. Take steps to address the issue by contacting the Social Security Administration by phone, or by logging into your <em>my</em>SocialSecurity account. If you can document the issue with W-2 forms, tax returns and paystubs, you can fix the mistake and be properly credited.</p>
<h4>SOURCES</h4>
<ol>
<li>&ldquo;Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Information for 2026.&rdquo; SSA.gov, Social Security Administration, <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cola/">https://www.ssa.gov/cola/</a>. Accessed 15 December 2025.</li>
<li>Ibid.</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cola/#:~:text=Read%20more%20about%20the%20Social,Chart)%20will%20increase%20to%20%2422%2C320."></a></p>

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><em>Last Updated: December 15, 2025</em></h6>
<p>One of the biggest mistakes some retirees and pre-retirees make is not understanding that your income from Social Security is taxed. At the federal level, you&rsquo;ll pay taxes on your Social Security benefits.&nbsp;</p>
<p>You pay federal taxes if your combined income (50% of your Social Security benefits plus earnings and other income) is above a certain threshold. For 2026, that threshold is $25,000 for single filers and $32,000 for joint filers.<sup>1</sup></p>
<p>You can choose to pay your taxes on Social Security benefits at tax time, or you can apply to have those taxes withheld from your benefits. Consider whether it makes more sense to pay your taxes as you go. For some retirees, that&rsquo;s a more manageable way to handle the tax bill.</p>
<h2>State income taxes on Social Security benefits</h2>
<p>At the state level, though, you might not have to pay taxes. In fact, there are only eight states that tax Social Security income as of 2026<sup>2</sup>:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Colorado</strong>: A generous income deduction of $20,000 is available to retirees age 55 to 64. For taxpayers age 65 and older, they can deduct up to $24,000. This makes Colorado a relatively good option for retirees.</li>
<li><strong>Connecticut</strong>: There is a 2% tax on up to $10,000 for single filers and up to $20,000 for joint filers. If you are a single filer and make over $500,000 or a joint filer making over $1M, your Social Security income will be taxed at 6.99% in this largely tax-unfriendly state.</li>
<li><strong>Minnesota</strong>: Not the best place for most retirees, Minnesota charges a tax of 5.35% on up to $31,690 for single filers and $46,330 for joint filers. You will be charged 9.85% if you make over $193,240 as a single filer or $321,450 as a joint filer.</li>
<li><strong>Montana</strong>: You can exclude up to $5,500 of your Social Security benefits from taxable income.</li>
<li><strong>New Mexico</strong>: New Mexico is more tax friendly and doesn&rsquo;t tax Social Security benefits for single filers earning up to $100,000 and joint filers who earn up to $150,000 per year.</li>
<li><strong>Rhode Island</strong>: This small New England state isn&rsquo;t known as a great option for retirees, since Social Security income is taxed. For all filers a 3.75% tax is applied on up to $79,900 and 5.99% on up to $181,650.</li>
<li><strong>Utah</strong>: Utah taxes Social Security benefits, but some filers may qualify for a Social Security benefits tax credit up to $450.</li>
<li><strong>Vermont</strong>: If you&rsquo;re a retired taxpayer in the cold state of Vermont, single filers will be charged a 3.35% tax on up to $47,900 and $79,950 if you are filing jointly. If you make over $242,000 as a single filer or $294,600 as a joint filer, you will be taxed at 8.75%.</li>
</ul>
<p>The remaining states do not tax Social Security benefits.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s important to pay attention to tax laws since they change often. Retirees might make the mistake of thinking that once they&rsquo;ve got a tax strategy, they don&rsquo;t need to worry about it. But you should pay attention to changes so you can adjust your plans accordingly.</p>
<p>Additionally, if you work during retirement and while taking Social Security, that income can impact your tax situation.</p>
<p>Please check out the following classes to learn more about Social Security Taxation:</p>
<p><a href="/retirement-school/working-part-time-impacts-your-benefits" rel="follow">Working Part-Time Impacts Your Benefits</a></p>
<p><a href="/retirement-school/social-security-taxed" rel="follow">How Social Security is Taxed</a></p>
<h4>SOURCES</h4>
<ol>
<li>&ldquo;Income Taxes and Your Social Security Benefit.&rdquo; SSA,&nbsp;<a href="https://www-origin.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/taxes.html">https://www-origin.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/taxes.html</a>. Accessed 15 December 2025.</li>
<li>Washington, Katelyn, &ldquo;Taxes in Retirement: How All 50 States Tax Retirees.&rdquo; Kiplinger, 20 October &nbsp;2025, <a href="https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/602202/taxes-in-retirement-how-all-50-states-tax-retirees">https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/602202/taxes-in-retirement-how-all-50-states-tax-retirees</a>. Accessed 15 December 2025.</li>
</ol>

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><em>Last Updated: December 15, 2025</em></h6>
<p>Some pre-retirees and retirees have special situations that can impact their Social Security situation. Mistakes in these circumstances can result in financial consequences, so understand what you might be entitled to.</p>
<h2>Mistake: Assuming you get to keep a Social Security overpayment</h2>
<p>Wouldn&rsquo;t it be great if Social Security overpaid you and you got to keep the extra benefits? It would, but it doesn&rsquo;t work that way. If Social Security accidentally overpays you for whatever reason &ndash; whether it&rsquo;s a miscalculation, changing in spousal benefits, etc &ndash; you&rsquo;ll need to pay back any extra benefits you receive or face fines.<sup>1</sup> If you receive an overpayment it&rsquo;s a good idea to notify the agency immediately to determine your best course of action.</p>
<h2>Mistake: Not understanding how Social Security disability benefits work</h2>
<p>If you meet the criteria, you can receive Social Security disability benefits even if you&rsquo;re under age 62. However, you have to prove that you have a disability, and you have to meet income requirements. If your income rises above a certain level, or you no longer meet the criteria to be considered disabled, you&rsquo;ll no longer receive benefits.</p>
<p>One potential mistake is thinking that you can get by on your Social Security disability benefits until you reach age 70 and then claim retirement benefits at the higher monthly payment. The reality is that if you&rsquo;re on disability benefits, once you reach full retirement age, your benefit will immediately revert to retirement benefits without changing the amount.</p>
<p>You can&rsquo;t delay your regular retirement benefits as a result of receiving disability benefits, so make sure you understand how Social Security disability works.</p>
<h2>Medicare and Social Security disability benefits</h2>
<p>Even if you&rsquo;re not yet 65, you might be eligible for Medicare if you&rsquo;re on Social Security disability. Healthcare costs can be a huge deal for retirees. If you had to retire early due to disability and you&rsquo;re receiving benefits, you might be able to enroll in Medicare after 24 months of starting.</p>
<h2>Supplemental Security Income</h2>
<p>Another mistake is leaving money on the table if you&rsquo;re eligible for other benefits through the Social Security Administration. For some low-income and/or disabled retirees it&rsquo;s possible to get an extra payment through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Often, this program is aimed at those who are at least 65 and meet income requirements, or who are disabled or blind, even if they&rsquo;re younger than 65. Take this into account when considering your Social Security strategy. Being eligible for SSI might also help you with eligibility for food assistance, which can be useful in retirement.&nbsp;</p>
<h4>SOURCES</h4>
<ol>
<li>&ldquo;Social Security recipients struggle to pay back agency after unexpected overpayments.&rdquo; CBS News, 5 November 2024, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-security-overpayment-woes-60-minutes/">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-security-overpayment-woes-60-minutes/</a>. Accessed 15 December 2025.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><em>Last Updated: December 15, 2025</em></h6>
<p>One of the biggest mistakes you can make with Social Security is not keeping track of your benefits statement and verifying that your records are accurate. You can&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">create an online Social Security account at SSA.gov</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Before retirement, check it regularly to make sure everything is in order and to help you with future planning. You can use the information to coordinate benefits with your spouse as well as plan when to claim benefits in conjunction with other retirement accounts.</p>
<p>As you plan for your retirement future, make sure you pay attention to the various aspects of Social Security planning in order to avoid some of the pitfalls:</p>
<ul>
<li>Run the numbers to determine when it will benefit you the most to begin receiving Social Security benefits. While waiting until age 70 can mean higher monthly benefits, it&rsquo;s not always the best choice. At the same time, you don&rsquo;t want to take benefits too early and risk not having the income you need.</li>
<li>Many couples make the mistake of not integrating their spouse in planning. Additionally, don&rsquo;t forget to consider whether you&rsquo;re eligible for benefits from a previous marriage. Even if you&rsquo;re currently single, you might be able to claim spousal benefits.</li>
<li>Understand how your work impacts your future Social Security benefits and realize that sometimes doing unreported work can be a mistake. Also, pay attention to how your income in retirement could impact your Social Security benefits if you return to work after claiming benefits.</li>
<li>Don&rsquo;t forget to consider taxes in your long-term retirement and Social Security planning.</li>
<li>Find out what other Social Security benefits are available, including SSI and how you can access Medicare and other benefits early in conjunction with special Social Security considerations.</li>
</ul>
<p>Get help planning how to integrate Social Security into your retirement by completing our class on Social Security.</p>

Read this class to learn how to avoid some of the most common Social Security mistakes that could reduce your benefits.

<p>Checklists designed to help you make informed decisions, and ultimately get the most out of your benefits.&nbsp;</p>

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<p></p>

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<p><span>You've worked for this benefit and now learn how you can maximize your retirement income.</span></p>

You've worked for this benefit and now learn how you can maximize your retirement income.

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you have worked in a public sector job, it's critical to understand whether you are eligible for Social Security.&nbsp; In this class we explore what benefits you may, or may not, be eligible for.</span></p>

If you have worked in a public sector job, it's critical to understand whether you are eligible for Social Security.  In this class we explore what benefits you may, or may not, be eligible for.

<p><span>Losing a loved one is challenging but you'll at least be able to receive his/her's benefits even after they are gone. </span></p>

Losing a loved one is challenging but you'll at least be able to receive his/her's benefits even after they are gone.

<p><span>Planning to work and receive benefits at the same? If so, here's how your age may play a big factor in your income.</span></p>

Planning to work and receive benefits at the same? If so, here's how your age may play a big factor in your income.

Social Security Category

How to Avoid Common Social Security Mistakes

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Class Summary 

Other Considerations When Claiming Social Security Benefits

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