Retiring can seem like a long way in the future for a student who is currently in college and has barely even started their career yet. The idea of working out social security along with financial security is something that probably hasn’t even crossed many students minds at this point in their lives, but the reality is the years go by faster than we can imagine, and as technology along with science develops we are likely to live longer which means we need to make our plans last for a greater number of years. 

In fact, according to Mark Edwards in his first of his two part webinar Tips for Advising Couples Filing for Social Security, people retiring now risk outliving their income and their financial assets. For example, over 50% of women who are over 65 today will live beyond 90. When planning for retirement the normal number of years planned is 20-25 years, soon this will have to increase as people are beginning to live longer than past years. I found this statistic to be shocking, and I cannot imagine what percentage of people when I reach 65 in over four decades time will be living over the age of 90. Edwards also discusses claiming social security benefits before reaching retirement age and other possible situations. 

So how is this relevant to students like you and me? Well, we need to be aware of the number of years we will be living in retirement with no income. Which means we should also know when to claim social security benefits. This provides us with the opportunity to start thinking actively about saving now for the future. Save more, spend less are simple steps to address longevity. Furthermore many of our parents are either at the age of retirement or will be reaching it soon in the next decade or so, this is an opportunity to provide them with information you may have learn from this webinar. 

Edwards webinar discusses when the best time to claim social security is to receive the optimal amount, and in the long run how to make a good plan for couples. According to Edwards, divorced and widowed women have greater levels of poverty compared to men. It is important that the question of “what will happen to the other survivor?” is asked when planning social security, keeping in mind the age of 65 is when Medicare becomes available. Therefore working with a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) practitioner is advisable or reaching out to the Financial Planning program here California Lutheran University for information.  

About the Speaker:Mark Edwards is a full time faculty lecturer at California Lutheran University with 30 years of investment management experience. Edwards has an MBA and is Certified Financial Planner. He spent 11 years at Minnesota State Board of Investment, and the next 20 years as a Managing Partner at the Plexus Group. He also written for the Journal of Portfolio Management and for the Financial Analyst Journal.

About the author:Rosie Baker is a undergraduate student at California Lutheran University studying Communications with an emphasis in PR and Advertising. She is also minoring in Creative Writing.

To watch the archived webinar, click the link below:

Part 1:

Tips for Advising Couples for Social Security – Mark Edwards

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