Social Security Made Simple: 2022 Edition

Just a brief announcement for today: the 2022 edition of Social Security Made Simple is now available (print version here and Kindle version here).

Relative to the prior (2019) edition, various figures have of course been updated.

And with this year’s large COLA, one of the questions I received repeatedly was whether a person has to have filed for their retirement benefit already in order to receive the COLA. So I’ve added an explanation that you get the annual cost-of-living adjustment beginning at age 62, regardless of whether you have filed for benefits.

There’s also a new example in the chapter on spousal benefits that illustrates another topic that has been a source of question for years: how is a person’s total monthly benefit calculated if they a) start their own retirement benefit early and then b) later start to receive a spousal benefit? (In short, the dollar-value reduction to your retirement benefit that was applied due to filing early continues to apply after your benefit as a spouse kicks in.)

For anybody who has not read the book, the outline is as follows:

Part One: Social Security Basics
1. Qualifying for Retirement Benefits
2. How Retirement Benefits Are Calculated
3. Spousal Benefits
4. Widow(er) Benefits
Part Two: Rules for Less Common Situations
5. Social Security for Divorced Spouses
6. Child Benefits
7. Social Security with a Pension
8. The Earnings Test
Part Three: Social Security Planning (When to Claim Benefits)
9. The Claiming Decision for Single People
10. When to Claim for Married Couples
11. The Restricted Application Strategy
12. Age Differences Between Spouses
13. Accounting for Investment Returns
Part Four: Other Related Planning Topics
14. Social Security and Asset Allocation
15. Checking Your Earnings Record
16. How Is Social Security Taxed?
17. Do-Over Options
Conclusion: Six Social Security Rules of Thumb
Appendix A: Widow(er) Benefit Math Details
Appendix B: Restricted Applications with Widow(er) Benefits
Appendix C: The File and Suspend Strategy

You can find the print version here and Kindle version here.