Get What's Yours - Revised & Updated: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security (The Get What's Yours Series)

There is a lot online content. Some of it ls misleading and some is outright incorrect. That is why I recommend the book below. Note: This is a review of four books. You may have to scroll down to the specific book you are interested in. "Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security" by Laurence J Kotlikoff, Philip Moeller, and Paul Solman If you are a numbers person, mathematician, math teacher, engineer, scientist, accountant, or financial planner then this is probably the best book for you. Get the latest edition. I have read four books,cover to cover, on Social Security and how to get the most from it. This is and will be the last book purchased because it has done the best job at explaining what I wanted to know. No book can explain all of SS and the many options available. This answered many but not all of my questions and gave me a very good understanding to the complexity of Social Security. If I had bought this book 1st, I know I would have bought some of the other books in hopes of finding the solution I wanted and I would have been disappointed in the other books. You do not need this book or any book for that matter if: You've never been married. You've never been disabled. You are not supporting a disabled parent or child. Your spouse (deceased, divorced, or still married to you) has never paid into Social Security. You have never worked for a government agency. You have no other pension benefits owed to you. You will not marry (or remarry) after you retire. You may have already begun receiving benefits and figure it is too late to change anything - that there is no "do overs." This book explains if possible, how, when, and what you can do to undo your Social Security filing. Basically, you must have just started receiving SS payments within the last 12 months. If so, you can undo what you have done. This book explains how. If you figure, you will make an appointment with Social Security and they will answer your specific questions and concerns, then you may not know all you need to know to ask the right questions. We went to our local Social Security office and we had two phone appointments. We spent a total time of 6 hours waiting and talking. The majority was waiting. The people within Social Security do try to do their best to help you but after reading this book I understand how none of them can know everything there is to know about Social Security. None of them gave me false information even if some of what we were told was a tad misleading. I feel they try their best and, in general, are good at their job. Information from Social Security should not be a substitute for getting and reading this book. If you are not that interested in having to trudge through a book like this one. One of the authors, Laurence J Kotlikoff, has on-line software home license for sale - Maximize My Social Security. While I can not review this software, I can let you know that it is available. I have to believe this is one of the better software on the market. "Social Security for Dummies, 2nd Edition", by Jonathan Peterson This is the 1st book on Social Security that I read. It is my second choice of Social Security books. It is easy to read and contains a lot of tips. It is not as extensive as Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security. Still it is a good basic primer on Social Security. It does contain several online links to help. One of the best links is from Dummies.com. I can recommend this book for those who want more than just general information that you can find at www.ssa.gov. It will answer many question about a variety of situations. It will provide a good starting point before talking with Social Security. It does fill a need but if your situation is complex this may not meet your needs. "Social Security Income Planning: The Baby Boomer Guide to Maximize Your Retirement Benefits" by Mark J Orr This is the third book I purchased. It did have information not found in the Dummies book. It is a well written book with more information but a bit harder for me to follow. At this, I was looking specific information. In my haste, I may have missed what I needed. While a good book, I would not recommend it. "Social Security Simplified: The Complete Guide to Understanding Social Security" by ClydeBank Finance This was the second book I purchased. It was either free or less than $5 as an eBook. Beyond the presumptuousness of the title, it is worth a read. The simplified guide to Social Security would be similar to the simplified guide to rocket science. My recommendation is that if its free, download it. If it costs anything, save your money and purchase my 1st recommendation.

Although written in easy to read, accessible language, this book, in an attempt to simplify and drive the points home, can be misleading on the surface. For instance, it very clearly states, on page 52 of the Kindle edition, that one can collect spousal benefits starting at age 62 if one's spouse is of full retirement age (66) and collecting benefits. This is technically true but in fact it is more complicated than that. But it is necessary to read the book in its entirety and carefully in order to grasp the complexities of the SSA system. The SSA website itself is unclear about this point, and going to the SSA office (which I did a few weeks ago at age 63) and trying to file for spousal benefits met with this outcome: you must be of full retirement age yourself (age 66), and your spouse collecting full benefits, before you can collect spousal benefits. The technical expert (that's really their title) did not offer to have me file for my own benefits and then collect spousal benefits, as is evidently the case (see the author's comments appended to this review). She printed out the relevant page from their rules and regulations (not available, she told me, to the public to view on their own online) confirming this, but again no mention was made of the option to file for both and receive one but not the other. In summary, this is a good book but read it carefully, and be prepared to give some sections more than one read to find your way throught the labyrinth of the SSA system.

Even though this is supposed to be a simplified, made-clear guide to Social Security, my head was spinning after a first look-through. But I found that if I focused on just the parts that pertain to my own situation, after four or five readings things were understandable. Much depends on whether a person contemplating filing for Social Security is married, single, divorced, or a widow/widower (and for Social Security's purposes, someone can be a widow/widower of an ex-spouse! but already I'm getting more into the arcane detail than I meant to). The explanations of the rules are invaluable, and the authors' advice seems to be pretty much five-star, though you should keep an open mind about disagreeing with some of it. For example, they generally take a most-conservative attitude, advising people to wait until age 70 to file, when they can begin collecting the maximum benefit; but that's based on assuming you're going to live forever, or at least past 83, plus a lot of people just can't afford to delay that long. (If the book's authors are reading this, they're wringing their hands, jumping up and down, and pulling their hair out -- didn't I READ Chapter 2? I did, but I don't think it's as clear-cut as they do.) But again, maybe getting into too much detail! Overall this book is probably the best information at the lowest price you'll find. Don't delay, get your copy today. Update: At least one part of this book is already almost outdated ... the authors caution readers about a number of Social Security "gotchas", and note that the biggest "gotcha" of all is that the rules can be changed: and (November 2015), that's in the process of happening; the "file and suspend" option is about to be eliminated. Check with the SSA for more complete details...

Although I agree that SS is one of the most complex financial problems with which the average person must deal, and that this book certainly gets across the two main points necessary for most folks, that the majority of us--at least most of the higher earning spouses-- should try to wait as long as possible before taking benefits and concern ourselves more with avoiding running out of money before death than with "trying to get all our money back before dying", I found the organization of all the many options less than optimal and somewhat irritating. Yes, I suppose it's all there, but trying to quickly get to the options that may concern one can be frustrating, although for some other situations everything has been collected in separate chapters. I believe it would be possible to cover this data in a better organized way, but admit to not knowing a book that encompasses as much and does so more effectively.

This book does what it promises: It provides an understandable explanation of Social Security fundamentals and specific guidance for individuals and couples in considering alternative means of maximizing their collection of benefits. Prognostications about the future of the system and potential issues and reforms are held for a closing chapter, in which the three contributors each offer their thoughts; however, the book is devoted to practical explanations of how the program and benefits work, not policy arguments. The authors avoid a dry lecture by offering many useful examples, and the tone itself is serious but light and often entertaining (if you can imagine that, given the subject). Prospective readers should understand that because the book seeks to address a variety of circumstances, much of it (whole chapters) will not apply to their particular situations. Also, there is a fair bit of repetition of key points, for which the authors offer no apology, as they mean to drive some basic lessons home. All this means that for any given individual or couple, the meat likely could be covered in a much shorter book (not that this is a weighty volume). No harm done, however, as much of this can be easily skipped, unless the reader is simply curious. In short, this is a well-written, easily understood and helpful guide to a sometimes scary subject.

I read their original book (2015) borrowed from our library. Turns out that the biggest strategy they suggested had been eliminated by Congress in the US Budget soon after their book cane out. As I researched to find out what the changes were I found that they had a Revised and Updated 2016 edition. Their first book was so well written and informative that I decided to buy the 2016 Kindle version. The Revised and Updated edition is even better than the original. They clearly explain what had changes, how it was changed (unbelievable!), and how it affects us. Before you make any decisions on what to file for and when to file, this is a must read. You need to know this information before you go to or talk to the social security system. The rules and regulations are so vast and complicated, the number of people they have to deal with is enormous and they cannot counsel you. As the authors point out, sometimes you get incorrect answers from the SS office. You need to understand what you are doing. This book will give you that understanding.

If you were born before 1/2/54 and are not collecting Social Security based on your own individual record, this book is for you. Why, because it will show you how to collect 50% of your spouse's benefit, while allowing your benefit to grow 8%/yr from age 66 to 70. Even if you are divorced, but were married for at least 10 years, you are eligible. Now, here is the key. You MUST NOT APPLY ONLINE. If you do, you will not be given the choice. Instead you must call Social Security and be very clear that you only want to apply for a spousal benefit. Once your spousal benefit application has been accepted and you have started receiving benefits, expect to get a letter from the SSA advising you that your individual benefits could be higher. Maybe so, but once you start collecting your on your own record, your annual increases will be minimal. The last two years, SS has been flat, while Medicare premiums have increased steadily, chewing away at one's income. Very informative book. Dinged it one star because I found it too repetitive, as if the authors had a page minimum requirement. While it is dated since no one can "file and suspend" anymore, the authors still have something to offer. Especially for those born before January 2, 1954.

I really needed the information in this book. Although I tell myself I didn't need it repeated four or five times over, I probably did. Each time I read a familiarly phrased core principle, I had a more thorough understanding. The authors apologize for the repetitiveness here, but repeat themselves they do. Perhaps they're trying to make sure those of us who have historically made bad financial decisions get the Social Security choices right. (And that is the main reason I am reading this book now, at this point in my life, as a 50-something. Having failed to save any money, I can at least gain a good understanding of the benefits of my fall-back retirement plan which is Social Security alone, without embellishment.) So be prepared for some not-so-subliminal behavior modification efforts tucked into these pages. Given the numbers of us who act impulsively, according to the authors' statistics, perhaps we do need to be whacked with this information repeatedly and hard. This book is also for people who think they know everything there is to know about Social Security choices. The authors spend a great deal of time debunking lovingly held misconceptions that could cost you a lot of money. They also point out that the standard advice handed out by Social Security workers on the phone and online is usually wrong and there is no liability on their part for being wrong and there's no recourse on your part (short of paying back the benefit) if you get it wrong because of Social Security's own advice. The authors also point out that we all think we're smarter than we are. So you can drop this tendency into your next insufferably boring lunchtime conversation with your much dumber colleagues -- it's called 'illusory superiority.' Makes you sound smart when you say it, doesn't it? Illusory superiority is especially acute for all those would-be geniuses who think they'll take Social Security early and invest in the stock market to beat the system. Those are the really dumb folks. This book explains, two or three times, why this is so. The book is conversational, but the subject matter is dense. Only once did this tendency to try and be accessible cause confusion. This sentence stumped me momentarily: "You've been divorced for 2 or more years, or your ex has filed for their retirement benefit." Well, we would say this in conversation without a problem, but the writer meant to say that my "ex has filed for his retirement benefit." Make no mistake, though. I learned that this is a carefully edited book and a minor problem like noun/pronoun agreement is practically non-existent. The authors are serious people, trying to make a bureaucratic behemoth like the SSA understandable to those of us who would rather not know. Women, especially, will benefit from the information in this book and, if your husband buys it and reads it, you should read it, too. Best to check that the decisions made by one spouse will ultimately benefit both. If that isn't possible, then there's a conversation that needs to take place. The bottom line is that this book is probably more than necessary. It's essential to getting the Social Security choice -- sometimes choices -- right and at the right time. With budget cuts for staff, we are never going to get the best advice from the phone people employed by Social Security. You need to find out what's best for you. You will also learn where the best calculators are (AARP has one, the authors have one), when not to get married, why it probably won't matter if you get divorced after 10 years as long as you don't remarry too soon, how not to unwittingly cause Social Security to "deem" that you have asked for two benefits at once when you really only intended to tap into one. Learning the lessons in this book and making notes that can be checked as each important birthday approaches gave me a headache. But, for once, I didn't put it off too long. And we have to figure this stuff out sometime; we have to exercise a little impulse control; and, we're dumber than we look. I'm off to grab some Tylenol. And my notes.

The book is repetitive, and its advice sometimes seems contradictory. It's not well organized. In the case of one important decision that spouses must make in choosing benefits, I'm still not sure what the authors are recommending, even though I've re-read the relevant sections several times. However, the book raises possibilities for squeezing the most out of Social Security that I would not have known about otherwise. I think there's a good chance that it will eventually gain us income. If you're approaching retirement age, it's definitely worth a read.

Very informative and helpful

Should be required reading. Amazingly easy to absorb despite complexity of SSA. I was able to read it in one day. Couldn't stop!