Free Social Security Webinar

Social Security is hosting its first national webinar on January 29, 2009. Retire Online, It's So Easy! will offer a demonstration of the new Social Security online application as well as a discussion of its key features. If you're interested in finding out more about the SSA online application, join SSA online at 2pm EST next Thursday. To RSVP, visit http://www.socialsecurity.gov/survey/retireonlinersvp.htm.

Social Security: What's New?

As the seasons change, Social Security is undergoing a few changes as well. These past two weeks have featured two exciting changes in Social Security, including an increased COLA and today's announcement of the new Compassionate Allowances Initiative:

• Last week, Social Security announced that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries will receive a 5.8 percent benefit increase in 2009. The 5.8 percent increase is the largest since 1982. The 5.8 percent Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that over 50 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2009. These benefits are based on a raise in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which increased 5.8 percent this year. To understand how the COLA will impact your benefits, check out this Fact Sheet from Social Security.

• Today, Social Security announced the national roll-out of its Compassionate Allowances initiative. This initiative will make it faster and easier for disability applications to be processed for people with specific cancers and rare diseases. The 50 conditions that apply are listed here, and Social Security will continue to add more conditions to this list. According to Commissioner Astrue, "The launch of Compassionate Allowances is another step to ensuring Americans with disabilities, especially those with certain cancers and rare diseases, get the benefits they need quickly."
  

Social Security Turns 73: How Are You Celebrating?

August 15th marked the 73rd anniversary of Social Security. Though certainly not a recognized national holiday, it is a cause for celebration. Social Security is by far the nation's most successful social program, helping millions avoid poverty in old age and providing necessary benefits for a range of others in the workforce, including disabled workers and their surviving spouses and children. It provides an essential economic safety net for women---without Social Security, more than half of elderly women would be in poverty. And it is a critical program for minority older persons, with 1 in 3 older African Americans and 2 in 5 older Hispanics currently relying on Social Security as their only source of income.

One way to celebrate 73 years of social security is by learning more about your current Social Security status. The following questions can help you stay informed on how much Social Security you may collect, when you can collect and how certain factors may impact your overall Social Security benefit. For more information on Social Security, visit the Social Security section of WISER's website.

1. Have you earned a worker benefit?
Yes, if you’ve worked 10 years (unless you are disabled).

2. Do you know how much your benefit will be?
The Social Security Administration will be mailing a statement to everyone (age 25 and older) three months before your birth month. If you haven’t gotten yours, send for a free estimate by calling 800-772-1213.

You can calculate it on your own by using the Social Security Administration’s Retirement Planner on their Web site at www.socialsecurity.gov/planners.

3. Do you know the earliest age you can collect a retirement benefit?
Age 62 (unless you are widowed).

4. Do you know what happens to your benefit if you retire early?
If you start your benefits early, your benefits are reduced permanently. Your benefit is reduced about one-half of one percent for each month you start your Social Security before your full retirement age. For example, if your full retirement age is 65 and 10 months and you sign up for Social Security when you are 62, you would only get 75.8 percent of your full benefit. (Source: Social Security Administration, www.ssa.gov.)

NOTE: The reduction will be greater in future years as the full retirement age increases.

5. Do you know when widows can start to collect a survivor’s benefit?
Age 60 (unless you are disabled or have children under the age of 16).