SSA Promises Prompt Service

Francine Kollias, Metropolitan Public Affairs Specialist from the  Social Security Administration’s regional office,  returned last night to introduce us to the many time-saving features available on Social Security’s updated website, www.socialsecurity.gov.  In case you missed the meeting, her powerpoint presentation can be found here.

Need to change your address or request a  benefit statement?  You can do that online. Want to know your full retirement age or  how to calculate your retirement benefits?  You can do that online.  Are you dreading having to endure the long lines at the Social Security office or listening to muzak while you wait on hold?  Go to the website instead.

Ms. Kollias showed us how most of our social security questions and requests for forms and information can be taken care of through the website.  Some features will require that you set up a password, a simple process, but many do not.  Ten years in the making, Kollias reassured us the new website is entirely secure.

For a video preview of the many services available on the website, view these PSAs (public service announcements) with celebrity spokesperson Patty Duke.  Patty reprises her dual role as a pair of twin cousins, Patty and her more sophisticated cousin, Cathy.  Great fun!

Money Magazine Special Report

 

The October  issue of Money magazine focuses on retirement issues with its special report 4 Steps to a Great Retirement.  Read the feature on What you need to know about  Social Security in anticipation of our October 21st  meeting with Francine Kollias, the regional Social Security Administration’s Metropolitan Public Affairs Specialist, who will return for a presentation on Social Security’s online services .  

Three additional articles on retirement readiness, stock investments and income security complete the special report.  View the table of contents on the website or borrow the print edition available here at the library.

How should we fix Social Security?

If our last meeting got you thinking about Social Security, take a look at the Social Security Fix-It book from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Social Security has a long-term financing problem, and more us will soon be collecting benefits with not many more paying taxes to support the program. The Social Security Fix-It book is a short, colorful guide to the program, its financing issues, and the leading proposals for eliminating the shortfall.  We’ll be adding print copies of the book to our collection soon, or you can read it online.

More fun with Social Security

Our speaker stocks the information table with goodies.

 

Last night at our April meeting, Francine Kollias, the regional Social Security Administration’s Metropolitan Public Affairs Specialist, gave us another entertaining presentation on Social Security, this time focusing on Medicare and Disability issues.   She explained the different parts of Medicare (A, B, C, and D), and told us that as of this summer, signing up for Medicare will be possible to do online.  And she answered a wide variety of questions.

She encouraged everyone to be aware of enrollment periods for Medicare, and to sign up as needed to avoid penalties.

Medicare issues can be complicated, so Francine also spoke about the SHINE (Serving Health Information Needs of Elders) program, which provides Medicare and health insurance counseling services to elderly and disabled adults.  (A SHINE counselor is available at the Newton Senior Center on Wednesdays 1:00 – 3:00 to assist with health insurance questions.  Call 617-796-1660 for an appointment.)

Francine’s PowerPoint on Medicare can be seen in its entirety here, and her presentation on Social Security Disability programs here.  She also brought copies of several brochures:
Medicare
Working While Disabled–How We Can Help
Apply Online for Social Security Benefits

These and many other Social Security publications, as well other information, can be found online at the Social Security website.

Medicare and Disability info

At our April meeting on Wednesday, April 15th at 7:00 p.m., we will welcome back Francine Kollias, the regional Social Security Administration’s Metropolitan Public Affairs Specialist, to speak on the topics of Medicare A, B, C and Social Security Disability.  A question and answer session will follow her talk.  Ms. Kollias presented a lively and informative talk last year on Social Security Basics.

This program will be in the Auditorium and is open to all, so bring your friends!  If you can’t make it, we’ll post a report on our Club page.

Happy Birthday, Retirement Planning Club! – March meeting report

We’re a little early, but for our March meeting last night, we had a party, sharing cake with our discussion.

First we watched a program from PBS’s Nightly Business Report, “Get Your Finances Ready for Retirement.”  The program dealt with the subjects of retirement lifestyle planning, how much to save for retirement, when to retire, and Social Security issues.  If you missed our meeting, copies of the program DVD are available in the library’s collection.  A transcript of the program, as well as video, podcasts and related materials, are on the NBR website (it was their “Memorial Day Special” last year), as well as information on other programs in their retirement series.  Like our Club, it is also funded by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.

Following the DVD viewing, Liz moderated an open discussion, and the program generated a lot of questions about Social Security benefits.  Our speaker next month (April 15) will be Francine Kollias of the Social Security Administration’s Regional Office, and while her topic is Medicare and Social Security Disability, she should be able to clear up some of the other Social Security questions raised as well.

In the meantime, the Social Security Administration has a wealth of information on their website, and while the issues are complicated, their website is very well organized and clear.  You can use their Retirement Planner, use their benefit calculators, or look at and search answers to frequently asked questions.  You can also ask them a question online.

Another issue discussed was how much to save.  For several different retirement calculators, see the calculators section on our retirement resources page, or see the calculators category for related posts on this blog.

The group talked about their retirement planning strategies–some are putting off retirement, others are saving more, many are concerned about the reduced value of their retirement investments.  Only a few members use a professional to help with their investments.

If you decide to get help from a professional, be sure you know what their title means.  FINRA’s information on professional designations explains that “Financial Analyst, Financial Adviser (Advisor), Financial Consultant, Financial Planner, Investment Consultant or Wealth Manager are generic terms or job titles, and may be used by investment professionals who may not hold any specific designation.”

For any professional with a designation after their name–CASL, CPA, CFP, RFS, RIS, etc.–FINRA’s page explains the experience, education, and exam required.  For more on this topic, see the report on our August presentation from attorney Tony Drenzek from the Mass. Secretary of State’s office.

See you next month!

New from the Center for Retirement Research

From the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, two new research briefs of possible interest:

The Impact of Inflation on Social Security Benefits

Are Retirement Savings Too Exposed to Market Risk?

Fun with Social Security

Can a presentation on Social Security be lively and full of laughter?  You might not think so, but in the hands of our September 17th speaker, Francine Kollias from the Regional Social Security office in Somerville, it was!  She took what could be dry information about benefits, wrapped it up in a wide variety of examples and anecdotes, and in the process both informed and entertained us.

With an emphasis on situations women might encounter, she reviewed eligibility for Social Security benefits, survivor benefits, and disability; talked about benefit calculations and the information found in our annual statements; discussed how work may affect benefits; and gave an overview of Medicare eligibility and sign-up requirements.  She stressed that it’s a good idea to check with Social Security BEFORE you retire, to review the benefits you will receive, and to get advice on how your retirement date might affect your benefits.

You can view Francine’s PowerPoint presentation here (alas, without the jokes) , or contact Social Security online or by phone, at (800) 772-1213.

Update 10/23/09:  The PowerPoint presentation linked here is Francine’s revised version from October 2009.

New Social Security Retirement Estimator

The Social Security Administration recently unveiled a new online calculator providing immediate and personalized benefit estimates to help people plan for their retirement. The Retirement Estimator is tied to a person’s actual Social Security earnings record and eliminates the need to manually key in years of earnings information.

The Retirement Estimator is interactive, allowing the user to compare different retirement options.  For example, a person can change retirement dates or expected future earnings.  Individuals also can print out up to three different scenarios at one time, in addition to information about their benefits at age 62 (current age if older), full retirement age and age 70.

In addition, the Retirement Estimator is secure.  The only thing it provides online is retirement benefit estimates.  It does not show the earnings record information on which the final benefit estimate was calculated, nor does it reveal other personal information.

The Social Security Department’s homepage has also recently been redesigned, making it easier to navigate.  And in the fall, they will be overhauling their retirement application, reducing the average filing time from 45 minutes to about 15 minutes.

Just as a reminder, at our September 17th meeting, Francine Kollias from the Regional Office of the Social Security Administration will speak on “The Basics of Social Security.”

Presidential candidates and Social Security

Robin Young of WBUR radio’s “Here and Now” had a discussion today with journalist Roger Lowenstein about what the presidential candidates are saying about Social Security and Medicare.  Roger Lowenstein is the author of While America Aged: How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom as the Next Financial Crisis.

You can listen to their conversation here, and check on the availability of the book here.  In order to listen to the show, you must use the Real Audio player, available for free download if you need it at www.real.com.  Newton owns two copies of the book; if they are checked out you may request them from another Minuteman library.

At our September meeting (Sept. 17) a speaker from the Social Security Administration will explore this topic with us.