Social Security and You: Book Updates

Tom Margenau on Feb 28, 2024

-- My retirement benefit is based on my highest three years of earnings (or last five or highest 10 -- just pick your number).

-- If I stop working, or work part-time, before I start my Social Security, I will be messing up my future Social Security check.

-- There are secret or hidden rules about Social Security.

-- I can take reduced benefits from my spouse and later switch to full benefits on my own record.

-- I have to be married for 10 years before I can get benefits from my spouse's record.

-- All disability claims are denied the first time around.

-- Children can only get benefits from a deceased parent's Social Security record.

I recommend you read "Social Security: Simple and Smart" if you are looking for a practical guide to how Social Security works, with important information about how and when to file for various kinds of Social Security benefits. And if you want tips for dealing with issues that crop up once your benefits start.

You should read "Social Security: 100 Myths and 100 Facts" if you are sick and tired of hearing and seeing all the Social Security mumbo-jumbo that's out there, mostly polluting the online world -- and if you'd just like to know the truth.

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If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has two books with all the answers. One is called "Social Security: Simple and Smart: 10 Easy-to-Understand Fact Sheets That Will Answer All Your Questions About Social Security." The other is "Social Security: 100 Myths and 100 Facts." You can find the books at Amazon.com or other book outlets. (If ordering the "Simple and Smart" book from Amazon, click on "See all formats and editions" to make sure you are getting the 2024 edition.) Or you can send him an email at thomas.margenau@comcast.net. To find out more about Tom Margenau and to read past columns and see features from other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.