Take a look at how Social Security benefits have changed and learn a little more about retirement benefits and taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your 2020 Social Security Benefits<\/strong> Estimated average Social Security retirement benefits starting January 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you know? You can increase your Social Security retirement benefits by 5-8% when you delay applying until you\u2019re age 70.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.6% cost of living adjustment for Social Security retirement benefits and SSI payments begins with the December 2019 benefits (payable in January 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2020 maximum Social Security retirement benefits a worker retiring at full retirement age is $3,011\/mo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you know\u2026 1-3 people expect it to be their primary source of income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Security pays benefits to more than 67 million people including retirees, children and surviving spouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2020 Social Security and Medicare tax rates If you\u2019re self-employed\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: The above tax rates are a combination of 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare. There is also 0.9% Medicare wages surtax for those with wages above $200,000 single ($250,000 joint filers) that is not reflected in these figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Security payments explained<\/strong> Did you know you can check your benefits status before you retire?<\/strong> Sources: SSA.gov, 17th Annual Retirement Survey, Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies\u00ae<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Take a look at how Social Security benefits have changed and learn a little more about retirement benefits and taxes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"post_statement":"","post_description":"","post_cta":"","post_button":"Read More","post_button_url":"","compliance_id":"","post_disclaimer":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[35,57],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whitcomb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whitcomb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whitcomb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whitcomb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whitcomb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4749"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.whitcomb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5191,"href":"https:\/\/www.whitcomb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749\/revisions\/5191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whitcomb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whitcomb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whitcomb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Find out how your benefits have changed<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>87% of Baby Boomers are expecting Social Security to be a source of their retirement income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>If you work for someone else\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\nMaximum amount you can pay in Social Security taxes<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> 2019: $8,239.80<\/td> 2020: $8,537.40<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
165+ million people work and pay Social Security taxes.
Social Security has provided financial protection for Americans since 1935.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMaximum earnings amount Social Security will tax at 6.2%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> 2019: $132,900<\/td> 2020: $137,700<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
How does Social Security work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
SS Social Security retirement benefits are for people who have “paid into” the Social Security system through taxable income.
SSD or SSDI Social Security Disability (SSD or SSDI) benefits are for people who have disabilities but have “paid into” the Social Security system through taxable income.
SSI Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are for adults and children who have disabilities, plus limited income and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMaximum SSI payments<\/strong><\/td> 2019<\/strong><\/td> 2020<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Individual<\/td> $771\/mo<\/td> $783\/mo<\/td><\/tr> Couple<\/td> $1,157\/mo<\/td> $1,175\/mo<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s how to qualify for your retirement benefits<\/strong>
When you work and pay Social Security taxes, you earn \u201ccredits\u201d toward Social Security benefits. The number of credits you need to get retirement benefits depends on when you were born.
If you were born in 1929 or later, you need 40 credits (10 years of work) to receive Social Security retirement benefits.
The earnings needed for a credit in 2020 is $1,410.
4 credits maximum per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can check online by creating a my Social Security account on the SSA website. If you don\u2019t have an account, you\u2019ll be mailed a paper Social Security statement 3 months before your 61st birthday.
It shows your year-by-year earnings, and estimates of retirement, survivors and disability benefits you and your family may be able to receive now and in the future.
If it doesn\u2019t show earnings from a state or local government employer, contact them. The work may not have been covered either by a Section 218 agreement or by federal law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n