Free help on Social Security

Other than our byzantine income tax system, perhaps no other government program is harder to understand than Social Security. At last count, there are more than 500 ways to calculate when and how to claim benefits. If you’re married, there are more than 80 age combination options to consider.

Among the most common questions:

• How much will my Social Security retirement benefits be?
• When should I start taking them?
• How much tax will I pay on that income?
• What will my spouse receive when I die?

Thankfully, there’s help available, and it’s free. It will take some time and effort on your part to learn how the system works and how to maximize your benefits, but it’s a project you should take on well before you retire.

Here are three popular online resources to get you started:

Social Security Administration

Start at the source. Social Security’s home page will help you find information on what benefits you qualify for, and it’s become increasingly easier to navigate and understand in recent years. I recommend you begin by setting up a mySocialSecurity account, if for no other reason than preventing scammers from accessing your information.

From there, visit SSA’s Benefit Calculators page, where you can get an estimate of your monthly retirement benefits, spousal benefits, tax implications, life expectancy, disability and survivor benefits, and more.

AARP

The American Association of Retired Persons has been an advocate for retirees and pre-retirees for more than 60 years. There is a great deal of free information on its website – and even more if you decide to become a member.

AARP’s Social Security Benefits Calculator will help you estimate your monthly benefits and offers a colorful illustration of how those benefits will increase if you postpone claiming them. There are also a number of useful articles and basic calculators on the site to help you see if you are saving enough to reach your retirement goals.

Bankrate

The Social Security Calculator allows you to estimate your future benefits by entering your age, planned retirement age, annual income, and expected rate of inflation. It has a neat feature that allows you to experiment with one variable at a time uses sliding scales. Once you’re done playing with the numbers, you’ll be able to see and print a report of your projected results.

Keep in mind that of all the free resources available to help you make claiming decisions, the calculator on Social Security’s website is considered the only “official” estimate. But the more sites you visit, the more articles you read, the more questions you ask – the better off you’ll be when it’s time to make those decisions.