Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunaimer
They keep it complicated so that you really don’t know what you’ll ever get and you’ll never know if the government is giving you the correct amount or not.
|
The process is not complicated.
You can request your work history using this form:
https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-7050.pdf
Or you can get your work history from your Social Security account.
All you have to do is index your wages to account for Inflation and other factors, add your adjusted wages for the 35 highest years, divide by 420 to get your average monthly earnings, then apply the bend-point formula to determine your benefit.
The principles involved only require 6th Grade math skills.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willistonite
You bring up a point I wondered about. I am taking SS starting this November. My earnings this year will be in top 35 years replacing a much lower earnings year. When you say it will take 9-10 months to figure out the wage index, does that mean they will increase my monthly SS after they index my last year? Thanks
|
Since you're applying for benefits in 2018, your wages will be indexed to year 2016.
The Social Security Administration will not make any future adjustments to your benefits. Even if you waited until December, your wages would still be indexed to 2016, because that's how they apply the formula to everyone.
If you waited until January 2019, your wages would then be indexed to 2017.
Note that those who applied for benefits in 2011 got screwed, because the wage index for 2009 actually declined from $41,334 in 2008 to $40,711 in 2009.
Will the wage index for 2017 decline? I seriously doubt it. I see absolutely no evidence to indicate that it would. According to BLS, real average hourly earnings increased 0.8% from January 2017 to January 2018.
The wage index for 2016 is $48,612.15 so good possibility it will be $49,031.14 for 2017.
35 years ago in 1981 the index was $13,773.10.
That makes your multiplication factor 3.53 using 2016 and 3.56 for 2017.
Let's say you earned $10,000 in 1981, then:
$10,000 * 3.53 = $35,300
$10,000 * 3.56 = $35,600
That's a difference of $300.
25 years ago in 1991 the index was $21,811.60.
That makes the multiplication factor 2.23 and 2.25 respectively.
Let's say you earned $30,000 in 1991, then:
$30,000 * 2.23 = $66,900
$30,000 * 2.25 = $67,500
That's a difference of $600.
Anyway, the point is your average monthly earnings would increase somewhat, and that would result in a slight increase in your monthly benefit, so if you can afford it, you might want to delay applying for benefits two months until January 2019.