Your Social Security Statements Are Wrong

Brian Doherty explains and illustrates why the benefit amounts that appear on your Social Security statements are wrong and why that makes the case much stronger for delaying the claiming of your benefits. Social Security statements contain three benefit amounts; Full Retirement Age benefit (the amount received if claimed at age 66 – 67), your smallest benefit (if claimed at age 62), and your largest benefit (if claimed at age 70). The Full Retirement Age benefit amount and the age 70-benefit amount on your statement are wrong because they are too low. They are too low because of retroactive COLA (Cost of Living Adjustments) credits and the incredible way that Social Security applies them if you delay claiming your benefits. Because of retroactive COLA credits those benefit amounts are going to be substantially higher. Doherty relates that retroactive COLA credits are one of the most amazing things he has seen in his 30 plus years in the financial services industry and why no private company could duplicate it. Over the last 7 years he has demonstrated how retroactive COLA credits work to over 10,000 people, including financial advisors, wealth managers, portfolio managers and corporate executives; and not one person in the audience had ever seen or heard of them before. Upon conclusion of the demonstration you may ask the question: “Why aren’t Retro-active COLA credits included in every article or book written, and every oral presentation made on the subject of Social Security?”

Brian makes the case that before claiming their benefits every person should consider how they could maximize the COLA feature attached to their Social Security benefits. Social Security’s COLA feature will provide the only pay raise that most people will experience in their retirement. Everybody wants to receive the biggest pay raise or dollar increase in their Social Security benefit every year for the rest of their lives. He illustrates in the video exactly how to do it. Most people do not include COLA and the retroactive COLA credits when they do their breakeven analysis, and as a result, their breakeven ages are too high. Doherty explains that including the regular COLA, along with retroactive COLA credits, could lower the breakeven age by 1-3 years which makes the case much stronger for delaying receipt of benefits as long as possible.  

Contributions from the book Guide to Social Security in this press release are used with permission from Light Bulb Press.

Brian Doherty was a co-contributor to this press release.