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How Good Social Security Planning Can Offset ‘Disturbing’ Trend Hurting Widows
(By – David Cechanowicz, JD, MSFS, CLU, ChFC)
While researching the impact of male Social Security claiming and poverty rates for widows, I have read article after article that illustrates the need for competent financial advising, especially in the area of Social Security claiming decisions and retirement income planning. There is no shortage of research literature that directly ties the financial futures of many women to the claiming decisions of their husbands. For example, a study commissioned by the Federal Reserve in 2012 concludes the following: Husbands are very responsive to their own benefit incentives, but they are not responsive to the incentives created by dependent benefits.The report also concludes that most families do not maximize benefits for the lifetime of the household. It is well known that changes in tax law can influence and change individual behavior. What is extremely interesting to me is that it appears a change in the law surrounding the earnings test may have had a negative impact on the financial futures of many married women. Read more…