How successful are U.S. retirees at sustaining assets from retirement to death?

What retirement strategies will enhance their ability to live a successful retirement? Come learn from:

Dr. Chia-Li Chien, PhD, CFP, PMP
Assistant Professor & Director of Financial Planning Program
California Lutheran University

When: Apr 2, 2020 12:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada

Presentation Slides and HUD HECM Website, the cap is at $765,600. Nevada Couples 89.7%/Couples HECM 89.7%, Singles: 41.3%/ HECM 41.3%, there was no improvement from HECM.

To get a copy of the research, please visit Dr. Chien’s books.

Bio:

Dr. Chia-Li Chien is an assistant professor and director of the financial planning program at California Lutheran University. She is also a succession program director at Value Growth Institute, a succession consulting practice dedicated to helping business owners increase the equity value of their firms. Before her private consulting practice, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies, including Diageo, ABB, CIGNA, and RSA Insurance Group. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession and retirement planning at national conferences and has published three books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” She publishes research on succession and retirement topics in a variety of academic and practitioner research journals. Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a CFP.

Social security can be complicated and confusing if you have never learnt about it as a college student. Chances are if you haven’t taken a financial planning class either in college or in high school you probably only have a rough understanding on what it is or maybe you have no idea, which is ok, that’s what this article is here to change. As a college student to another college student here is an explanation of what Social Security is and what is important to know now even though we are young and retirement seems decades away. 

Let’s take the scenario that I earn $15 an hour, 10 hours a week. My weekly earning would be $150. Now I have to pay Social Security and Medicare tax called FICA or Federal Insurance Contributions Act which altogether is 7.65% (6.2% for Social Security tax and 1.45% for Medicare tax). For my earning of $150,  that would mean each paycheck I would be paying $11.48 in FICA tax. 

Everyone who is in the workforce contributes to Social Security Trust Fund (SSTF). Those who pay FICA will pay up to a cap of $128,400 for Social Security, but there is no cap on Medicare. Those who receive from the SSTF are the retired, disabled, children or who live in poverty. 

On the official government website for Social Security they explain it as:

“the money you pay in taxes is not held in a personal account for you to use when you get benefits. Today’s workers help pay for current retirees’ and other beneficiaries’ benefits. Any unused money goes to the SSTF to help secure today and tomorrow for you and your family.”

The Social Security card you got when you were little is responsible for this process, it has a 9 digit number on it that is personal to you, and only you. This number then records your covered wages or self-employment. 

As you work and pay FICA tax you earn Social Security credits, when you retire these will be used to calculate your retirement benefits. However, sometimes people decide to be paid in cash or “under the table” in order to avoid FICA tax and other taxes but this is not advised by Certified Financial Planners (CFP) because it does not get registered by Social Security which later means you cannot claim the benefits. It may seem like a good idea for the present day, but in the long run being paid by cash will not benefit you. 

Furthermore, the US is facing a problem due to baby boomers creating an aging population. There is not enough people in the workforce to support the number of those retiring that will be receiving benefits from Social Security. This means that the tale-end of the baby boomers and the generations after them will have their retirement benefits potentially be cut, in fact SSTF will be depleted according to Social Security Administration. 

As the future for Social Security benefits it is unsure, therefore it is important to save more and spend less. To think there is a reliable source in the future of Social Security benefits should not be case. It is much better to be resourceful through your own savings. 

To learn more about Social Security and how to save more, spend less work with a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) practitioner or reach out to the Financial Planning program here at California Lutheran University for more information.

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

References:

Social Security Administration. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.ssa.gov

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If you were given the opportunity would you take $1 today or $3 in a month?

Chances are you probably would take the $1 as you value it more now compared to in a months time. 

What about if I offered you $3 in a month or $3.50 in two months?

Another month probably would not make a big difference to you so chances are you would probably be happy to wait one more month to get the $3.50. 

Now my last question to you – can you see how the relationship has changed over time from these two questions? 

This is an example behind one of the reasons why people claim their social security benefits earlier rather than later according to Mark Edwards in the second part of his two part webinar Tips for Advising Couples Filing for Social Security. Altogether there are four pieces to the Annuity Puzzle that he discusses and explains in the webinar, as he continues the conversation from part one of Tips for Advising Couples Filing for Social Security. 

I think it is important for students like me to understand that filing before the age of retirement at 66 years old or Full Retirement Age (FRA) leads to a reduction in the benefit claims, whereas filing after FRA increases in the benefit claims. If students know this now at the beginning of their career and adult lives they can plan when to claim their benefits. 

The age they chose to claim social security benefits also affects the spouse claims and their benefits. At the age of 62 claims for social security benefits can start to be made, but the majority of people claim around FRA. Surprisingly though a small percentage of the population claim after FRA despite the fact that delaying benefits to the age of 70 produces a great rise in the amount received by 32%. 

Retirement may seem like a long way in the future to other students like me but it is good to know information like this to allow long term planning, and then have the potential to benefit in the best way when claiming social security. 

To discover more about when the best time for you to claim for Social Security Retirement Benefits is work with a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) practitioner or reach out to the Financial Planning program here California Lutheran University for more 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 Communication with an emphasis in PR and Advertising. She is also minoring in Creative Writing.

References:

https://www.callutheran.edu/faculty/profile.html?id=mcedward

Watch the archived webinar below:

Tips for Advising Couples For Social Security Pt. 2 – Mark Edwards

Learn more about Cal Lutheran’s Financial Planning Program here and follow us on social media:

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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

Learn more about Cal Lutheran’s Financial Planning Program here and follow us on social media:

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