Full Retirement Age???
Financial firms and publications are always conducting studies and surveys about American financial knowledge.
They almost always reveal the same overarching themes that we think we know more than we actually do. When asked about our confidence about retirement, social security or401k we score pretty well. When it comes to specifics…not so much.
I am a professional in the industry with multiple state and federal licenses and am still learning new stuff everyday about the financial world. It’s complicated. Even some of the basics are not so basic.
Take this recent example about Social Security. Nationwide Financial surveyed people about the program and 40% said they were confident or very confident in their understanding of Social Security. Not bad.
But then they asked “At what age are you eligible for full retirement benefits?”
Do you know the answer? (Hint - it’s at the bottom of the article)
Gen Z: 54 Years Old
Millennials: 55 Years Old
Gen X: 60 Years Old
Baby Boomers: 64 Years Old
Guess what? They’'re all wrong and those “most confident” were more likely to be wrong.
Most people polled think that Social Security is a tax-free benefit. It is not.
3 out of 10 knew that if you claim your benefit early you have 12 months to undo that decision.
With so many relying on this benefit for some or most of their retirement income it is clear we need to know more about how it works. Not understanding it will probably not provide the best outcome for you.
I always recommend that you go to ssa.gov and create an account. This will allow you to see your current estimated benefits and learn more - like up to 85% of your benefit can be subject to income tax.
Here is a link to SmartAsset’s helpful article.
https://smartasset.com/retirement/social-security-questions-nationwide-study
As always, if you come across a financially related article you’d like to send my way please do!
Best place to send them is to me.
More next time!
Jonathan
The answer is 67.