Everything You Actually Need to Know About Social Security Right Now (SB1873)

Summary

Stacking Benjamins Show – SB1873

Episode: Everything You Actually Need to Know About Social Security Right Now

Date: July 27, 2026
Hosts: Joe Saul-Sehy & Josh “OG” Bannerman, CFP
Summary by: Expert Podcast Summarizer

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Stacking Benjamins Show dives deep into Social Security, spurred by current news of legislative motion—specifically, the new “Promise Act”—and widespread confusion about potential changes. Though the hosts offer their signature humor and banter, the heart of the episode centers on pragmatic advice: what you need to know (and do) about Social Security today, no matter what Congress does next. The episode features a lively debate about the politics and mechanics of Social Security reform, practical tips for maximizing your benefits, and advice on avoiding common claiming mistakes—plus entertaining tangents and quickfire myth-busting.

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Episode Structure & Key Segments

1. Intro & Setting the Stage
2. What’s Happening in Washington: The Promise Act and Social Security’s Outlook
3. Common Proposals for Social Security Reform
4. What You Should Do Right Now: Maximizing Benefits & Avoiding Pitfalls
5. Tackling Myths and Listener Questions
6. Quickfire Recap & Key Takeaways

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1. Setting the Stage

(02:29–08:49)

• Joe and OG open with characteristic wit; Doug offers comic relief and banter.
• Social Security is back in the headlines due to legislative buzz about the “Promise Act,” and the hosts emphasize the practical importance of understanding your own Social Security benefits—regardless of what Congress does.

2. The Promise Act and Social Security’s Financial Outlook

(08:49–15:57)

Key Points:

• Social Security’s Funding Problem

  • The trust fund for retirement is projected to be depleted by Q4 2032 if Congress does nothing, at which point only about 78% of scheduled benefits can continue.

• What’s the Promise Act?

  • Contrary to first impressions, the bill doesn’t dictate a solution—it simply forces Congress to publicly debate and vote on Social Security reform.
  • “The Promise act doesn't tell Congress how to solve it. It creates a process... to debate and vote on solutions.” —Joe [09:46]

• Host Debate: Is Congressional Action Progress or Pointless?

  • Joe sees the enforced debate as progress, given the current gridlock.
  • OG is skeptical and exasperated:

    "This is like just some proposal by some senators to create another government process to fix the government process. Like, how friggin stupid is this?” —OG [11:27] “What we really need is another meeting that will totally solve it. And if we put it in writing that we actually have to have a meeting, then by God we'll actually solve this problem. What a bunch of friggin dumbasses.” — OG [11:28]

• Joe and OG agree ordinary people can’t depend on Congress—what you personally do is more important than politics.

3. Reform Proposals: What Might Actually Happen?

(15:57–28:01)

Most Common Proposals Discussed:

• Raise the Retirement Age

  • Often suggested as the most direct fix; even moving the full retirement age from 67 to 70 for those under 40 would “totally solve the problem” (OG [16:38–17:04]).
  • Planning note: Younger people should consider this possibility in their own retirement projections.

• Remove or Raise the Payroll Tax Cap

  • Currently, only the first ~$176,000 of wages is taxed for Social Security.
  • Raising/removing this cap is a rational solution to increase funding.
  • OG: “Removing is maybe a strong word, maybe increasing, raising. Yeah, because right now it’s 176k roughly... Seems like a rational thing.” [21:34]

• Investing Social Security Funds

  • Proposal to let a portion of funds be invested for higher returns (e.g., in diversified funds rather than just government bonds).
  • OG notes potential unintended consequences for government borrowing and broader economic effects.

“Is It In the Act?” Game

(25:04–28:01)

• Doug runs through possible changes—none (except the debate process itself) are actually in the Promise Act.
• The Act creates a process and requires that solutions must aim for 50 years of solvency.

4. What You Need to Do: Maximizing & Tracking Your Own Social Security

(28:18–39:56)

Key Action Steps:

• 1. Set Up Your SSA Account

  • Every worker should create an account at SSA.gov (uses ID.me) to monitor reported earnings and ensure the record’s accuracy.

    “Legitimately, you need to make sure that’s being recorded correctly.” —OG [28:36]

  • Review Social Security statements at least yearly; correct discrepancies quickly.

• 2. Understand How Benefits Are Calculated

  • Social Security uses your top 35 years of earnings, adjusted for inflation.
  • If you retire early, zeros get factored in, potentially reducing your benefit.

    “There’s really not a process … to be able to go in and estimate your earnings in the future... just know that number’s BS by some order of magnitude.” —OG [29:58]

  • Social Security benefit projections on the website assume you’ll continue earning at your current rate until full retirement age.

5. Claiming Strategies and Common Mistakes

(39:56–54:22)

Q&A: When to Claim and Claiming Pitfalls

• Should I Take Social Security as Early as Possible?

  • Claiming at 62 permanently reduces your benefit; waiting increases it up to age 70.
  • The right answer depends on your financial plan, other retirement resources, health, and relationship status.

    “Do I need the money right now? ... Even though I understand it might be suboptimal, I might want to wait to get a bigger chunk. Something in the hand now beats a bunch I can't get to.” —Joe [41:33]

• Growth Rates & Break-Even

  • Waiting increases benefits approximately 8% per year between full retirement age and 70.
  • Break-even point is usually around age 79–81. If you outlive that, waiting pays off.

    “If you’re 60 today ... and you’ve got one bucket that can grow at 8% a year guaranteed for the next eight years, ... you might want to let that one be.” —OG [42:00–43:34]

• Spousal, Survivor, and Divorce Benefits

  • Spouses typically get the higher of their own benefit or their deceased spouse’s.

    “In a couple spousal relationship, the spouse who survives gets the higher of the two.” —OG [54:29]

  • Divorce rules: 10-year marriage minimum unlocks benefits on ex-spouse’s record, subject to other rules.

• Work & Claiming Early

  • If you claim before full retirement age and keep working, there's an earnings limit and benefits can be reduced.

    “…if you’re still working in 62, just kind of cross off Social Security off your list.” —OG [48:42]

• Taxation & IRMAA

  • Up to 85% of benefits may be taxable, depending on total income.
  • Social Security is included in the income calculation for Medicare premium surcharges (IRMAA).

• Coordination & Common Mistakes

  • The biggest mistake: not coordinating portfolio drawdowns with Social Security timing. Many forget to reduce withdrawals when Social Security kicks in.

    “The plan was draw $50k for the next 10 years from your portfolio. Stop. Draw $50k for the next 10 years from your Social Security ...” —OG [50:56]

• Special Cases

  • Some public sector workers (e.g., certain teachers, railroad employees) may not participate in Social Security. The “WEP” and “GPO” rules changed in January 2024—affected individuals should review current guidelines.

6. Mythbusting & Lightning Recap

(57:43–59:47)

• Myth: Social Security will disappear in 2032

  • False. At worst, benefits would be automatically cut to about 78%—not disappear—if Congress takes no action.

• Myth: You should always wait until 70

  • Not always. While preferable if possible, “life happens”—take the money if you genuinely need it.

• Myth: Social Security can never be taxed

  • False. For many, a portion of benefits is taxable.

• Claiming decisions are always independent between spouses

  • False. Spousal benefits and survivor rules mean one partner's choices often affect the other's outcome.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “What we really need is another meeting that will totally solve it. ... What a bunch of friggin dumbasses. This is stupid.” —OG, on Congressional gridlock [11:28]
• “If they change the full retirement age from 67 to 70 for people under the age of 40 ... it totally solves the problem.” —OG [16:38]
• “The number you want to look at is 10 years. There's a rule around if you were married at least 10 years before your divorce, you may then be eligible for spousal benefits.” —Joe [55:51]
• “The biggest mistake ... is not remembering what the strategy was a decade ago.” —OG [51:26]

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Final Practical Takeaways

• Don’t count on Congress—build your retirement plan assuming you’re in charge.
• Set up your SSA.gov account, check your earnings yearly, and learn how your benefit is calculated.
• Claiming early can mean permanent reductions; waiting usually helps, but cash flow and life circumstances are key.
• Coordinate withdrawals and Social Security to avoid excessive portfolio drain when benefits kick in.
• Understand spousal/divorce/survivor rules and special provisions if you’ve worked in the public sector.
• Social Security won’t disappear overnight—even in a funding crisis, most benefits will still be paid.

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Additional Resources

• SSA.gov – Create/check your account
• Stacking Benjamins Guides – Deeper dives on benefits, taxes, and more
• Stacking Benjamins Newsletter – For deeper, actionable tips

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Want to get the most from your Social Security? It starts with your plan—not with waiting for Congress.

Transcript

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[A]

It is Monday, and that means we are back. Oh, gee. How you doing, man?

[C]

Fair.

[A]

Fair to middling.

[C]

I don't know what middling is, but I'm fair.

[A]

Doug, are you middling?

[D]

I'm meddling.

[A]

Well, at the beginning of the show, we take fair up a notch because people that performed well beyond fair performed above the call of duty, where the men and women in our armed forces and we salute them to begin every week. So grab those mugs, Stackers, because it's time to salute the troops. Behalf of the men and women. Make a podcast, Mom's Basement. And the men and women stack of Benjamins around the world. Thanks for all you do. Let's go stack some Benjamins together now this week, shall we?

[D]

Thanks, everybody.

[A]

Bring out your dead. I'm not dead.

[B]

What?

[A]

Nothing.

[D]

Use your ninepence.

[A]

I'm not dead.

[D]

Here.

[A]

He says he's not dead.

[C]

Yes, he is.

[D]

I'm not.

[A]

He isn't. Well, he will be soon.

[D]

He's very ill.

[C]

I'm getting better. No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment.

[A]

I can't take him. Like that is against regulations.

[D]

Live from Joe's mom's basement, it's the Stacking Benjamin Show. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. And Social Security is back in the news as legislators in Washington work to duct tape one of the biggest government social programs. We'll cover that. But even better, we'll share what's important to know about your Social Security benefits so you can maximize your money and Avoid some common mistakes. And that's not all. You know what else we're gonna do? I'm gonna wow you with some of my money themed trivia. So buckle up, buttercup. And now two guys who are only podcasting so they can get out of mowing the lawn. It's Joe and oh, Ju G.

[A]

Hey there, Stackers. And you know how difficult mowing the lawn would have been last week if we were further north OG in Texarkana? It would have been wild. I went to visit my sister and it was. Talk about middling. It was a little. A little overcast there from all the fires.

[C]

Yeah. Thanks, Canada.

[A]

There. There goes Canada again.

[D]

Can't we just get like a big ceiling fan to exhaust all the.

[A]

That's all Canada had to do was get some fans, put them up. We could have actually even done that at the border. Oh, welcome back to the Stacky Benjamin show, everybody. We have a great show on tap. We haven't talked about Social Security in a long time and the reason we're addressing it, Doug, as you mentioned, there's some new legislation out around Social Security. So I think that is a good signal to go. You know what we should talk about? Not really what government's doing, although we will dive into that a little bit. What's on the table. But in the second half of today's show, we're also going to do the more important thing regardless. What should you do to make sure you don't make some of the common mistakes a lot of people make? Because man, people making mistakes all over Social Security. So we've got all that and more on today's episode. But first, we have a few sponsors who help us keep on keeping on. Let's talk first about Scout benefits. Open enrollment time is coming up for a lot of companies around the world and we got a very quick checklist at the front of every guide that if you do these things, you're going to avoid many of the common mistakes. But we have guides to your benefits, your taxes, and college planning. Talk about that's also coming up here as another group of students become freshmen at colleges and universities. Why trust AI versus the wisdom of a team that's been doing this for over 55 years collectively. Stack benjamin.com guides get you Scout where you can look up your exact question and Scout will give you the answer specifically from the guide so there isn't any of this hallucinating that we hear out of social media. Educate yourself when you're ready to learn more as well. Stacky benjamins.com guides we got a couple more sponsors. We're going to hear from them and then og, Doug and I getting into the Promise Act. What's that all about? We promise we're going to talk about it in just a minute. Tom it's summer and you know what that means. Everything feels just a little more relaxed, a little easier. I find myself reaching for the same comfortable go anywhere pieces again and again. And that's why I come back to Quince. Quince's 100% European linen pants and shirts are breathable, easy to throw on, and the summer upgrade your rotation needs starting at just $34. Everything in Quince is priced 50 to 80% less in similar brands and they work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen. So you're paying for exceptional quality, not brand markup. I was super excited to see the number of Quints users in our Facebook group the Basement first it makes me feel good when I give you a great referral and then second, I feel even better when you take it and you report back just how well it worked out. Stacker can purchased like me some badass pants. Andy gives thumbs up to Quince says whoever's behind the buying for that outfit, they're good. Still haven't bought caviar from Quince yet, but they brand it neighbor Doug Caviar. I'm totally buying a bunch. And Stacker Nick third thumbs up here. We bought a super comfortable set of linen sheets in a duvet from them last year. They developed a hole probably due to our dogs and and Quint replace them free of cost and super quick. Fantastic customer service. This Stackers is exactly what I love to hear when I make a recommendation and that is that you have the same amazing experience that I'm having. And as you heard, it's not just clothing. Quint has become a trusted favorite for everything from home to travel to everyday essentials. So make your summer wardrobe easier. Go to quint.comsb for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N c e.comsb for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quints.comsb people are finding quality hires on Indeed right now in the minute I've been talking to you. Companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed. According to Indeed data worldwide, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed are 95% more likely to report a higher than non sponsored jobs. And here's what's cool Stackers you're going to get $75 in sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves. Indeed.com podcast just go to Indeed.com podcast right now and support Stacking Benjamins by saying you heard about Indeed right here at Stacking Benjamin's.

[C]

Hello, darlings. And now it's time for your favorite part of the show, our Stacking Benjamin's Headlines.

[A]

All right, guys, I was reading this CNBC piece last week. Reporter Lori Conish talked about big moves in Social Security potentially. It's called the Promise Act. And I thought immediately, Doug, I thought,

[D]

oh,

[A]

Congress is promising to do something finally.

[D]

And they always follow up on that. They're good for it.

[A]

Promises from Congress, those are, those always happen. Yeah, but that's not actually what the bill is, is a promise to fix Social Security. Something different. The latest Social Security trustees report says the retirement trust fund used to supplement payroll taxes. Well, that's projected to run short around the fourth quarter of 2032. 2. If Congress does absolutely nothing. They're pretty good for that.

[D]

Doug, you're asking me, Doug, what are your thoughts? Do you think Congress does a lot and works really hard? Yes.

[A]

But if Congress does absolutely nothing, the system could pay only about 78% of scheduled retirement benefits. So Congress has a problem. Well, it's all of our problem. Right. Here's what's interesting. The Promise act doesn't tell Congress how to solve it. It creates a process that a group of Republicans and Democrats have agreed on could lead Congress on the way, how to fix it. It's a process to force Congress to debate and vote on solutions. So today we're going to spend a few minutes talking about what the process actually looks like. But then we're going to spend most of our time talking about something even more important, how you can maximize your own Social Security benefits. So, oh, gee, I think this is are getting confused. People hear Social Security Reform act and immediately think Congress has decided what they're going to do. But that isn't what this bill says. It actually says, hey, we're actually going to finally take this seriously. You and I, we've been talking about Social Security for the past, what, 14 years that we've been on and 14

[C]

years later, this isn't the government taking it seriously.

[A]

You don't think. So we got Republicans and Democrats saying, sponsored by people.

[C]

Hold on. Co. Sponsored by half the people who are retiring at the end of this term who want to be able to say, oh, I did something for Social Security. You've only had 25 effing years to do something about it. And so now you're going to pass. Well, it's so early in the stage that none of this is actually going to happen. This is like just some proposal by some senators, handful of senators to create another government process to fix the government process. Like, how frigging stupid is this? Like, I don't know.

[A]

How far have we got? Hold on.

[C]

There's the solution to Social Security, everybody. What we really need, what we really need is another meeting that will totally solve it. And if we put it in, if we put it in writing that we actually have to have a meeting, then by God we'll actually solve this problem. What a bunch of friggin dumbasses. This is stupid.

[D]

Nice job, Joe. Way to get them all. Wow.

[A]

But you don't think the fact. Well, no, that's good.

[C]

I don't.

[A]

That is good. You don't think the fact that we finally. How many times have we reported on even being an agenda item? We haven't. We never do. We keep hearing about what the problem is, but we don't even hear about it on the agenda. I think it's a progress that at the very least we're finally actually talking about. Well, guess what? Something's gonna have to change.

[C]

I would bet dollars to donuts that even the stupidity of this bill won't pass. Like, there's no logic behind it. Why don't we actually spend the frigging energy like trying to solve the problem to begin with as opposed to having a committee like, I know, here's an idea. We have this major problem, everybody. What do you think we should do about it? Well, I'll tell you what we should do because we're about to get the F out of here. We should force people to have a committee and like have. We should force them to solve it. That's how we're going to solve this. We're going to force other people to solve this when we exit stage left. Because we've only had a combined how many hundreds of years of government time to solve this problem. This is. Golly. And people wonder why they hate politicians. This is a prime example. Well, two things I can't wait to read. I've read absolutely nothing about this, but I cannot wait to see some a hole senator get on TV and be like, oh, we're proposing this plan. And you know, if the senator from Maine would get off his ass and like actually come to the meeting, we could get this thing solved. No, you're proposing to propose to have A friggin meeting.

[A]

But let's talk about where we're at. Where we're at in Washington, which clearly, by the way, for us, that's not our forte. The second half of this argument is going to be our forte, which is who cares about what Congress does? Let's talk about what you do about it. But while we're on this topic, I think, number one, the status of Washington, that we can't even have the discussion, number one, to have a framework to go, you know what, we're going to vote on the fact that yes, we are going to talk about this. And then number two, this is how we're actually going to talk about it. I agree that if you put away the fact that we don't talk about this at all, the fact that we're proposing a thing that we're actually going to have a meeting that gives us guidelines for that meeting is ridiculous. The reason I think it's not ridiculous is because of the fact that we don't even talk right now. If somebody is seen with somebody across the aisle from them currently, it's suicide. So if, if we put together a framework that goes, hey, I got forced into the, you know what, constituents that don't read enough about this stuff to understand what's really going on. I was forced into the arena because of this thing. So we had to talk about it. No, guess what? This is the framework of how we had to talk about it. So if we finally agree on the fact that a, we have to talk about it and then B, this is the way we have to talk about it, we actually do something even more ridiculous. We finally get to the freaking table and we start talking about it because it's been a problem for how long and they're finally saying they're gonna do something. And by the way, to, to take the stank off of, yeah, these are a bunch of people that retire at the end of their, their term. Well, why? Why? You know why? You know why they haven't talked about it until now. I'll give you the stank on the other side, which is if I'm gonna be reelected, if I want to be reelected, and I got caught talking to somebody across the aisle about this. You know what happens? I get attacked from either the farther left or the further right. I get attacked by my own base because guess what? Hey, Doug was talking to the guy across the street. We can't re elect Doug because he can't be, he can't be trusted to stay inside his own camp. So I Feel like you almost have to be a congressperson or a senator who is leaving, who's going bye bye to even propose that we talk to somebody across the street because that crap ain't happening right now.

[C]

Be a lot easier if we just had term limits.

[D]

Okay, guys, take a cbd, big old drink of your water and let's get back on track here.

[A]

Well, I think we are on track. I think it's a healthy debate. I think the debate that this is ridiculous. I think OG is 100% right. I think it is ridiculous. I also think if we look at the battleground and where we're at now, that's why I think this is a plus. I think it's a plus that we're actually going to talk about it. Call me crazy. Let's talk about some of the ways though that we've seen people talk about change. Some of this is. None of this obviously is a part of the Promise Act. All the Promise act is, is the fact that A, we're going to sit down, B, we're going to have a meeting. Here's the way the meeting has to go. We're going to shackle people to this process so that they actually have to talk about it. But let's talk about some of the ideas. Number one idea to fix Social Security. OG Raise the retirement age.

[C]

Yeah, it'd be great. Totally solves the problem. I think the last data that I saw on this don't know where it was, so don't quote me on it. But if they change the full retirement age from 67 to 70 for people under the age of 40. So ostensibly you've got three decades to figure out how to cover those three years. It totally solves the problem, which means stackers.

[A]

And the reason why this is important for us to talk about is not that we're going to solve the problem with Social Security, but because this is on the table so much. OG I think that in your own financial plan, showing the retirement age going up could be a wise move when you're doing your projections.

[C]

Well, I think for a lot of people it makes sense to plan on Social Security at age 70 anyway. But if you're relying on it to like get you across the finish line at 67 or 65, I think it's certainly reasonable to. And you're a young person, and by young I mean under 40. I think it's totally reasonable to, you know, to make some adjustments there. And frankly, you have way more control over this anyway, 30 years out, you know, 25 years out, like, this is a. This seems like a. Oh, they're pulling the rug out from underneath me. But, but honestly, you know, if you want to be done at an early. I don't know, a lot of people in our community that are pining for retirement at 67 and are going to be frustrated by having to wait to 70. If they're the type of people that are saying, no, I'm, you know, I love, I love what I do. I don't ever see myself not working. This is a non event to you, right? Like 67, 70, I don't give a crap. I'm still going to be earning income. And then secondly, if you're on an early retirement track and you're like, I can't wait to be done with work, I don't see a lot of people going at early retirement. Once that bug hits at 67, then I'm totally at it.

[A]

Screwed me over.

[C]

You know, it's like you're planning on being done at 55 or 58 or 60 or something. And so, you know, you're having to fund that. Just little bit of that, you know, that gap potentially. That's even if they changed it, which

[A]

you're taking matters into your own hands is what you're saying. You're not, you're not focused on them, you're focused on what I got to do. I think that makes sense. Second thing, and this has been, senators on the left and the right have both said this. Remove or raise the payroll tax cap. So the payroll tax cap, for people that don't know how this works in your paycheck, when you see that FICA line, that is your payroll tax, that's your Social Security tax, and you pay part of it, your employer pays part of it. But they're saying to either raise or remove that, that could help fix it. OG

[C]

you know how sometimes, you know, your day is going on just totally peachy keen, and then you get in a room with somebody and everything derails because of that little conversation. Like today, everything was fine. I was having my coffee, was taking care of a little stuff around the house. There's not a lot going on here. Check my phone. I say, hey, I got to record this podcast. Okay, cool, I'll get on, you know, and then Joe starts talking about political stuff, which drives me crazy. That's not even. So that. That like kind of pointed me in that direction. This is unrelated to everything that we're talking about, but this. Just get a little insight into OG For a second. Okay, so then My idiot brother. This is state brother friggin texts me this photograph. I'm going to show it on the screen and I want your immediate reaction. And Doug, you in particular are going to know how this, like just until this makes me. So whatever comes out, I, I bear no responsibility whatsoever for what comes out from here on out. Do you know how this makes me feel? So my idiot brother just texted me, hell yes. A congratulations email from the Masters tournament. Unbelievable that he got picked for. For, for tickets. I have entered the friggin Masters thing since I knew it was a thing to enter.

[D]

You think?

[C]

And I'm gonna be effing 50 next year. And this a hole goes like, oh, I'll just check online. Real. Oh hey, I'm gonna enter this thing. Okay, so now what it really is.

[A]

You think talking politics makes OG mad, not getting into the master. You know what's funny, Doug, is that if I were OG's brother, I would totally have AI make me that I

[C]

said that to him. I wrote him back and I said, this is AI. And he goes, it's not. I wish it was. And then he sent me another screenshot that showed that it wasn't.

[D]

Guess what he's going to do next? He's going to ask you to borrow money to pay for the tickets that he has the privilege of buying.

[C]

Yeah, tell him to take it out of the money he already owes me.

[A]

All right, Number two was to remove the tax cap. Number three.

[C]

Oh, by the way, so removing the tax cap, I actually think that's probably a pretty fair idea. Removing is maybe a strong word, maybe increasing, raising. Yeah, because right now it's 176k roughly. It goes up a little bit every year. And this seems like a pretty rational thing to say. Like, you know, I can just kind of.

[D]

You gotta, you gotta explain this.

[B]

Why?

[D]

Tell people. Well, tell people what's the tax cap? Why is it 176 and why should we raise it? Because I don't think any IDEA why

[C]

it's 176 is because.

[D]

But tell, tell us.

[A]

So we explained earlier, this is the FICA line. On your, on your taxes, that number is capped. You only are. Are tax this tax up to a cap where they no longer tax it. Now part of your income no longer goes towards Social Security. It.

[D]

Now, does this mean if my gross salary, let's say is 176,000, they cap it there or my salary, the amount they pull out maxes at 176?

[A]

No, if your salary is 176.

[D]

Okay, so if I make 180, I'm only having FICA pulled out on the first 176.

[A]

That's right. The last 4,000 is you're skipping every day because you don't have to pay fica.

[C]

Well, and that's not entirely true either. You're skipping out on the Social Security side of fica. You still have to pay the Medicare side.

[D]

Right.

[C]

So sometimes they line item it together.

[D]

But anyways, you're saying raise it to 250 or something.

[A]

Yes, yes, change that number. Next up is Bill Cassidy has an idea OG not of giving people privatizing your Social Security, which people have talked about before, but just having the government invest it in a diversified fund that would grow faster so that the investment returns of the Social Security money actually then does a better job of keeping pace with and maybe outpacing inflation.

[C]

I am far from an expert on Social Security, but one of the things that I understand that it provides is it provides the government the ability to borrow money against it. It's an asset that it's borrowing against, which arguably has a pretty profound impact on the economy already and helps buoy the economy when needed and all that sort of stuff. So if that money was no longer sitting there in cash, does that affect the government's lending? Borrowing rates, I should say. I know there's some accounting gymnastics that happens in those accounts that's far beyond my comprehension. But I think on paper it makes a heck of a lot of sense, especially when you back test it, when you say, if I'd have just put my own Social Security money in the frigging S and P, you know, for my entire life, I'd have way more money, which is true for most people. But what other downstream effects are there? I don't know.

[A]

Yeah, I think there'd be a lot of debate there, but at least getting in the room and debating it. So let's play a game.

[C]

Doug is OG pissed or not pissed?

[D]

Whenever it's a game, I get put under the interrogation spotlight.

[C]

We do.

[A]

Are you getting the theme here? Lately, Doug? The Doug plays the game, but just to make sure that everybody gets what we got. And the game is we're going to call this game. Is it in the act? Is it in the act?

[D]

So in other words, I'm the lowest common denominator. And if I get it, then everybody,

[A]

then hopefully everybody else gets it. If not, then we've got to. Because if Doug don't get it. All right, I'm going to read the line And Doug, you tell me whether it's actually inside of the Promise act or whether it's simply an idea people have suggested. Okay, here we go. Round one, the Promise act raises the retirement age.

[D]

Nope, not in it.

[A]

It's been proposed by a lot of people, but it's not inside the legislation. Round two, the Promise act removes the payroll tax cap.

[D]

Nope, not in it.

[A]

Separate proposal. Not in it. Dude, you're doing good. This is great. Round three, the Promise act creates a separate investment fund.

[D]

No, not in it.

[A]

Senator Cassidy's idea. Round four, the Promise act creates a process requiring Congress to debate and vote.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Bingo.

[D]

Because that's what they're really good at, is setting up processes to talk about processes.

[A]

But the fact that we haven't even gotten that far. Right, we're actually that far.

[D]

Well, and here the reason I was so. Well, let's just finish the game and I'll tell you why I am doing well so far.

[A]

Round five, the Promise Act. We didn't talk about this one. First one we didn't talk about. Requires Recommendations aimed at 50 years of solvency for Social Security.

[D]

Yes, it's in there.

[A]

It's in there. It is in there. You can't talk about it unless it's going to solve the problem for at least 50 years. Bonus question. We got one more. This is for extra credit, Doug, because you got 100 on this deal. So let's see if you can raise your overall score on the entire season. Your idea is this in there. Your idea of paying Social Security with scratch off lottery tickets. Is that a part of the act?

[D]

Despite all of my letters to my. To my congressman, no, it did not.

[A]

And Stackers, you thought, you thought. Oh, gee was angry earlier. Every time Congress doesn't answer the scratch off idea. The scratch off idea, the fact we didn't even talk about it earlier today.

[D]

Doug, the reason that I was so quick to say yay or nay on all of your questions, and I was right about it, is because all of the first three that you offered and three out of the four that you offered up were all very definitive changes. And this is such a third rail in politics that nobody wants to be that black or white or that definitive in recommendation. It's too risky to do that. And so it's easy to take a guess on whether or not those things were in or out of this bill.

[A]

It's so frustrating. But I love this because now we've separated the process from the possibilities, and the Promise act is just about process. And I tend to agree With OG probably not going anywhere. But the fact that we're talking about it.

[C]

Process I want to talk about is the process for getting 30 straight years of rejections from the masters. Like what? That is the thing we need to investigate.

[D]

Welcome to Short Attention Span Theater, ladies and gentlemen.

[A]

Okay, we spent enough time talking about Congress. They certainly have work to do. But let's talk about us stackers. If somebody listening today is maybe gonna get Social Security in the future, what should they start doing today? First thing, OG Create an SSA account.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, if you're working and you have any work history, which is, you know, you got a W2 or you get a paycheck, like, legitimately, you need to. You need to make sure that that's being recorded correctly. For those of you who have been working for a while but haven't created this login yet, it's also a fun trip down memory lane. Go back and be like, oh, man, in 96, I made $1,800. Like, what are you doing in 96? Like.

[A]

Well, and that is the important thing, because that memory lane could be. Could have discrepancies.

[C]

Well, good luck trying to remember what the real number should have been in 1996. But you should check it every year. You know, right about this time, kind of in the summertime, I think, is when they mostly post your prior tax year information. So while it's fresh, you should double check it.

[A]

And the key here is to get comfortable with. Well, before I even say that, people are wondering, well, wait a minute, how do I create this?

[C]

Yeah, it's just an ID me login, SSA.gov and I'll walk you through it. It's pretty straightforward.

[A]

Yep. ID.me is. Is where you go. And the calculation, though, you want to start getting comfortable with. Okay, how does Social Security calculated? It's a 35 year calculation. Can you go into that OG a little bit?

[C]

Absolutely not. No human person can calculate this, but

[A]

it's based on 35 years of work experience, I think is the point. Well,

[C]

it's based on your top 35 years of work, and it's insects for inflation. Except for years ages 60 through 67 or 60 and beyond, which is just the actual number. The important thing to remember is this. If you're looking at your Social Security estimate, let's say you're 45 years old, and it says, you know, hey, we estimate your Social Security as gonna be $2,200 a month. Da, da, da, da. What they're assuming with that estimate is that you continue working in the same capacity plus a little inflation until you get to that age. So if you're like, I'm 45, but I'm gonna retire when I'm 52, you're probably gonna have a bunch of zeros that get factored into that calculation that aren't factored into their estimate. So when you see, when you see online that it says your estimate's 2,200 bucks and you're, you know, 63 years old, it's like, okay, that's a pretty legitimately close number. If you look at it, it says 2200 bucks and you're 41, but you're planning on retiring at 55. Well, you're going to have 10 years, 12 years, maybe 15 years if they go to 70 of zeros against that 35 year calculation. Because, you know, I mean, you probably haven't worked 35 years total in your life yet. So understand that that number. And there's really not a process, at least that I'm aware of to be able to go in and estimate your earnings in the future to say like, well, let me plug in a bunch of zeros to see what it does. You're just going to have to know that that number's BS by some order of magnitude.

[A]

Yeah. If you're an early retiree, you throw a lot of this out the window. A lot of what it tells you when you go to the, go to the website. Yeah.

[C]

100.

[A]

You spent decades earning Social Security. You want to make sure Social Security knows that you earned it. You want to make sure that the numbers are right. I like the idea, love the idea of going in there once a year. All right, we come back, we are going to talk about claiming mistakes. We're going to talk about some of the gotchas that people get caught by when it comes to Social Security. But before we get to that, Doug, you're going to help people impress their friends and neighbors with maybe the most hard hitting part of the show, your trivia segment.

[D]

That's right, Joe. Hey there, stackers. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug, and today we're talking about stacking money. Which reminds me, there's one financial advisor who's been asking the same question since 1940. What's up, D? Your expense ratio? On this day, one of America's greatest Smart Alex officially made his debut. So riddle me this one. What famous cartoon character first asked, what's up, doc? I think I nailed that impression.

[A]

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[D]

Hey there, stackers. I'm Carrot lover and guy who took a wrong turn in Albuquerque and ended up in a basement. Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug Mellow. Mel Blanc was the voice of a bunch of cartoon characters, including today's birthday boy who said, what's up, Dak? But before I tell you who said that famous line, there's actually some cool money stories here. Most people assume the guy behind all these voices must have become fabulously wealthy from the character, but not exactly. Mel Blanc voiced not only the character to today's Question, but also Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, Tweety Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, OG and a whole cast of Looney Tune characters. Yet he never owned the rights to any of these characters. According to biographical accounts, he never made more than about $20,000 in a single year from Warner Brothers, despite being the voice behind many of its biggest stars. But it's not all bad. What he did negotiate was something almost

[C]

unheard of at the time.

[D]

Time. After Warner Bros. Turned down his request for a raise, Mel Blanc asked for and got an on screen credit that read voice characterizations by Mel Blanc. That credit made him one of the first voice actors most audiences actually knew by name. And it helped launch decades of additional radio, television, commercial and voiceover work. So here's today's money takeaway. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can negotiate isn't a bigger paycheck. It's building a personal brand. But that brand was built primarily on the guy who said, what's up, Doc? And that was, of course, Bugs Bunny. Happy birthday, Bugs. And now back to two guys who are nearly as good looking as Yosemite Sam and Daffy Duck. It's Joe and OG thank you, Doug.

[A]

And by the way, you're the one that alerted me to the fact that Acquire Podcast now is diving into another four hours, this time on Walt Disney. But Walt Disney had a similar problem early on in his career. I didn't know that all of his animators got stolen. He. He didn't own the rights to the first to Oswald the Rabbit. And so when he created Mickey Mouse, he made sure at the end of his shorts it said Walt Disney on the end. So when people tried to do it again, which they did, they stole his animators. Everybody's like, no, no, I want the. I want the Walt Disney one. So people wanted Mel Blanc like, I want. I want no blank. Yeah, pretty interesting. Make sure that you keep control of your assets. Well, let's talk about one thing. Congress, we talked about in the first half of today has plenty to figure out. Oh, geez. Not going to figure out that. He's going to figure out the system. Another important system, how people get into the masters. But let's assume none of us is heading to Augusta, Georgia or to Washington this afternoon and look at what we can actually control. And the question everybody asks OG Is the first question you hear people ask all the time, when should I take Social Security? And I have a feeling that might be the wrong first question is when should I claim Actually the first question or where we head first, OG when

[C]

it comes to Social Security, ultimately, all this kind of just boils down to your individual financial plan. The way that I evaluate Social Security from a planning standpoint or the way that I encourage people to think about this is it's one of the buckets of money that you have, right? So you have this bucket of money. That's your Social Security bucket. You have a bucket that's your IRA, you have your 401 brokerage account, real estate, whatever. You have all these different buckets of money. And now you have to figure out the best way to take the money out. Let's say that you're going to retire at 60. You can claim Social Security as early as 62 with a pretty substantial discount reduction in benefits for your entire life. And so you're drawing from that bucket versus drawing from another bucket. Or you can wait on this bucket and draw from this bucket. It's just all about the timing of what's going on and what the balances are in those different places and what the flexibility is. There's plenty of people out there who have limited resources and IRAs and 401s and that sort of thing. And it's like, well, the only way I can actually retire is especially since, as we've reported before, the vast majority of people retire before they're ready because they get retired. Right. You know, the majority of people are like, I'm going to work till I'm 65. And then they have a health issue or layoff or something, they're 61. If you're in the situation where it's like, well, I mean, I get that the optimal way to do it would be to do A, B, and C, but those aren't the cards I've been dealt. Well, then you just got to play the game that you've been dealt. Right. Which may be I have to take this at a suboptimal way because this is the only way that my plan works.

[A]

Yes. The question number one might be, oh, gee, then it might just be, do I need the money right now? Yes. These other buckets aren't ready. So I got to have the money. I got to have this money right now. Even though I understand it might be suboptimal, I might want to wait to get a bigger chunk. Something in the hand now beats having, you know, a bunch of money I can't get to.

[C]

I think you have to evaluate your relationship status. Like, you know, and I don't mean like, status in terms of, like, are

[B]

we gonna make it?

[C]

But more like, you know, are you married? Yeah. Are you married? Like the health and wellness of your family again, you can be a super healthy. You can still have an accident, you know, you never know what's going to happen. And put in your plan your spouse's benefit pool themselves and how that kind of layers into it as well. I mean, if you're fortunate to be in a situation where you've worked Hard. And you've got money in all these buckets and you're like literally just saying what's the most optimal way. I would present this as an idea for you. I would say you've got one bucket that has an account that is going to grow at a varied rate of return. Right. So you've got your ira, it's invested, it's going to do whatever it does. Some years it grows by 30, some years it grows by negative 20. You have no control over that. You have another account that's going to grow at roughly 8 to 10% a year, virtually guaranteed until you're 70. Well, which one of these do you want to keep growing for the foreseeable future? Well, if you're looking at it in the last 10 years, you'd say, well I would want the S and P bucket to be there growing and compounding at 20 odd percent. But if I asked you about the next 10 years, say, well, if you're 60 today or you're 62 today and you've got one bucket that can grow at 8% a year guaranteed for the next eight years, I think you might want to let that one be right. You've got a pretty good return that's going to sit there and do its thing. I know it's a simplistic way to look at it, it's not exactly accurate, but it gives you a sense of what the difference is between claiming now versus waiting until you're 70 to do it.

[A]

Yeah, because the one thing that you did walk through was health. And obviously if I pass away at an early age and I didn't take that bucket, it's not like the IRA bucket where somebody's getting the whole bucket. Somebody might, a relative might, your spouse will get a portion of that Social Security money that you didn't take. But if you're not married and you end up deciding to wait on that bucket, it might never happen for anybody.

[C]

That's, that's the game we all play.

[A]

Oh gee. We have these three different ages that we hear about with Social Security all the time. We have age 62 you mentioned is the earliest age we can get it. We have our full retirement age and that depends on when your birthday is, when that occurs. Or we've got age 70. Right. So is you mentioned 8 to 10%. Does it grow at a different rate between 62 and our full retirement age than it does between full retirement age and 70? Or is that a straight line continuum all the way through?

[C]

Well, I've never thought of it. That way, my guess is, is that it's more of a curve because of the amount of money that you're giving up by claiming early. So it's not so much that it's growing as it is that you're not getting penalized. And the penalty is most profound the earlier that you go. And then it's scaled in terms of how much, it's five ninths of a percent per month that you claim it early from your full retirement age. And so that's linear. But where it becomes a little bit more of a curved outcome is the earlier you take it and the longer you live. So if you take it very early and you live a long time, you've given up lots of these little bits of percentages for a long, long, long, long, long time versus waiting until your full retirement age, where there's no penalty, or waiting until you're 70, where you earn credits for waiting, even if you have that for a shorter period of time. You know, if 62 versus 70 is eight years shorter if you live to the same age, generally speaking, the break even for most people is around age 79 to 80, 81ish, somewhere in there. But once you factor into the equation, your surviving spouse's benefit. So if you just use the standard situation, which there's no stank on this, this is just how it's been. The man works, the woman stays at home. Right. That's the standard baby boomer scenario that we can describe. Also, generally speaking, the man dies soon and the. And grandma lives forever. Right. If that's the case, and you add in the fact that the husband's going to die and then the wife's going to live some number of years beyond that, the benefit of waiting and ensuring that your spouse, surviving spouse, gets the greater of the benefit, statistically, that's the man who dies and then the woman who lives a little bit longer, it's a pretty big difference in lifetime income. But the reality is, is that you don't spend lifetime income at 63 when you get canned from your job. So again, back to my original point about this. You can have the greatest plan in the universe at 51, but then just life is life at 62.

[A]

The old Mike Tyson quote. Yeah, everybody has a plan.

[C]

OG punches you in the face, then you have a plan.

[A]

So waiting till 70 can pay these big dividends. But let's take what some people may be thinking, oh, gee, all right, I don't need the money at 70, I'm gonna wait till 72. I'm gonna wait till 73. Like I'm gonna wait longer. Why not wait past age 70 then?

[C]

Well, that's just simply not an option. They will start sending you money.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. You don't get any more credits.

[C]

There's no such thing as you can.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

The other thing I will tell people too about Social Security, which is really interesting, is if you still owe the government money when you go to file for Social Security, they will take it from the Social Security.

[A]

Well, what about tax strategies and Social Security? Is there any timing I need to think about with my taxes when it comes to how I take my Social Security payments?

[C]

Well, it mostly has to do with your earnings. So if you're taking Social Security before your full retirement age, you're limited in the amount of money that you can make. In a sense, you can do whatever you want. You're just going to be paying back Social Security for the amount of money that you earn over a certain amount. So really, you want to think about that early retirement claiming or early Social Security claiming that 62 to 67 period as like, worst case scenario. Because generally speaking, if you're still working, you don't want to also claim Social Security because you'll probably end up paying it back. It's a really low threshold. Off the top of my head. I can't remember the number, but it's something really small. 25 to 30k of earnings and you start paying back the Social Security that you receive, basically.

[A]

So if you decide to take Social Security at 62 and you're still doing some work at 62, you have a penalty on top of just throwing back money.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean, essentially how it works is you're limited in the amount of money that you can make. And then for every dollar above that amount that you make, you know, gets credited back to your Social Security and you also have to pay back. So it's like it never happened, but it's a big mess. So if you're still working in 62, just kind of cross off Social Security off your list.

[A]

There's a piece that truly isn't a tax, but I think people think about it like a tax, which is this surcharge, which we can get added to Medicare, Part B and Part D premiums. Does Social Security have anything to do with this irmaa, they call it IRMAA Surcharge. Can it affect our surcharge?

[C]

Well, it's part of your income. So, yeah. I mean, ultimately your total income is your total income. If you have Social Security and you're working and you took a big IRA distribution or did a Roth conversion. All that shows up on your tax form and then that that affects your Medicare because your Medicare premiums are effectively means tested. Right. So people that have more money pay

[A]

higher premiums, more means. Yeah, yeah. What's another place where people get it wrong when they're taking Social Security or thinking about their Social Security benefits and how they take them?

[C]

I would say that the biggest thing that happens for most people that make mistakes in Social Security is the combination of planning for taking it later, drawing down their portfolio, intentionally saying, hey, from 62 to 70, I'm intentionally going to leave this bucket alone. Because OG said, hey, this is a good 8, 10% bucket. I'm going to leave that be. I'm going to intentionally draw down my portfolio so that at 70 I'll switch. And then they don't switch. Then they turn on Social Security at 70 and keep spending from their other bucket at the same rate. And so people, because it's a long period of time from that decision to the execution, they forget the rationale of the decision and so go, oh, it's 70. Oh my gosh, this is great. I got like another four grand a month to spend. Hell yeah. Like, let's go. And it's like, no, no, no, no, no. That's the 50k a year that you're not taking from your portfolio anymore. That was the plan. The plan was draw 50k for the next 10 years from your portfolio.

[D]

Stop.

[C]

Draw 50k for the next 10 years from your Social Security, you know, and then add the inflation that you need to, to top it up. What we see happen a lot is they'll do that 50k limit themselves. Do, do what they're supposed to for the first 10 years. And then Social Security kicks on. It's like, oh, finally I get to do all the stuff I wanted to do. And it's like, well, now you're drawn from both buckets. You're going to run out of this. Ira. One that's probably the biggest cautionary tale is not. Not remembering what the strategy was a decade ago.

[A]

Everything we've talked about, I mean, you did talk about spousal scenarios besides that. Everything we've talked about has been for whether you're single, whether you're married. But let's talk specifically married people for just a few minutes. If you've got two people retiring at the same time, would it make sense strategically to think about these taking them in unison, or is there an upside to maybe taking one first, like Cheryl and I, we look at our two numbers. Hers is bigger than mine because I've been self employed my whole time. So, okay, we turn on Joe's early to get a little extra income. And then when Cheryl's comes around, bam. We get the bigger hit to offset that or maybe twist that around, get the bigger hit up front and then, you know, Joe gets his later.

[C]

I just wonder what it's like to actually be of age to be thinking about these decisions.

[A]

There it is, Doug.

[C]

Someday.

[A]

People don't know that before we even hit record, Doug's like, we're gonna, we're gonna hear this.

[D]

And it took, we're gonna take a beating on this one.

[A]

Took him almost 45 minutes to get there.

[C]

I waited, I had to wait for the right opportune time.

[A]

He did, yes.

[C]

Which is so weird because Cheryl's like 41, so I don't understand how, I don't know why she's thinking about.

[A]

So she likes the older bend and Cheryl likes you even more.

[C]

She already likes me more than everybody here. No, I mean, it definitely goes into consideration when you have two. Two, you know, a couple. Same age, different age, different earnings history, different benefits, different timing. All of that has to be factored into your decision for how and when and who and all that sort of stuff. There used to be a lot of really fun planning, gaming, the system, strategies. Most of those have largely gone away now or been kind of, what's the word I'm looking for? Phased out. You know, like I said, well, once you're this age, you can't do that anymore. So you guys are young enough that in theory those have been phased out.

[D]

Wow.

[A]

But you're saying there is some efficacy in thinking about not taking them at the same time, about, you know.

[C]

Well, perhaps, I mean, here, you know, if you've got a spouse who has higher earnings, a lot of people say, well, I get half of my spouses. It's not entirely true. It's a shorthand way of saying it. Basically, you get all of yours and whatever is necessary to top you up to half of your spouses. And so if you think of it that way and recognize, well, I can take mine whenever I want. And then, you know, my spouse claims theirs when they want or when it's advantageous. And then I get a little top up. And the ages matter, who's older, how much older or younger, you know, and like where that comes into play. So I wouldn't wander into the Social Security office or wander online to the Social Security page because you do Most of this online now, you know, the day after you retire and go like, all right, let's get this Social Security all squared away. A lot of choices, honey. Which one should we pick? You know, like this. This probably requires a little bit of thought ahead of time.

[A]

Do the survivor benefits work similarly? Cheryl passes away, then I get half of hers.

[C]

In a couple spousal relationship, this spouse who survives gets the higher of the two. Whoever survives you, you don't get both. You get the higher of the two. So, you know, in your case, if Cheryl's got a higher Social Security benefit than you, she pre deceases you, you would get a step like a top up basically to be the full amount of whatever hers was. If she passes away or if you pass away before her, yours just goes away. She just keeps with hers.

[A]

And then I want to ask about divorce, because let's say that somebody married and then gets divorced from a person remarried to somebody else. Does that affect it?

[C]

Yeah, it sure does. It depends on how long you were married. It depends on what age you are when you remarry. You know, same thing for widows or widowers that that matters. Age at which that happens. Social Security, of course, most.

[A]

Oh, you mean for widow. For widow or widower, it matters how long until they get remarried to somebody else. Yeah, that kind of thing.

[C]

Yeah. Age you were when you get remarried. Sure. For people that have spouses that pass away early in life, there's benefits for children to a certain age and so on and so forth. There's lots of other things for people that are in marriage, and very specifically

[A]

stackers, the number you want to look at is 10 years. There's a rule around if you were married at least 10 years before your divorce, you may then be eligible for.

[C]

Yeah, it's 10 years for how long you had to have been married. And then you can use that spouse's benefit for yours. Depending on how long, depending on how old you were when you got remarried, then you know what that looks like also. So.

[A]

And then let's get away from people that are married, just people in general. Are there some employees of different places og that might not get Social Security?

[C]

There are some certain industries where job situations where they don't actually pay into Social Security and you do some sort of private situation comes to mind. Some teachers, some public service employees, things like firefighters and police officers. Potentially different counties and situations do a little differently. Railroad employees are popular ones that have their own little thing. But you're probably, if you're one of those people, you know you're one of those people. And if you worked 40 quarters, which is basically 10 years of work in the Social Security system, like, you're still getting something, but you just have a bunch of zeros for the time that you were in your other career. So. And then there's an offset depending on how much you get from those anyway. You know, you're a unique situation if you're one of those people.

[A]

That's the big thing I wanted to point out, because there were huge changes in January of 2024. So if you got. If you were people in one of two groups. And again, you'll know who you are. If you hear these. If you don't understand what these letters mean, then it's doesn't apply to you. If you were eligible for WEP or gpo, those rules changed. Time to go revisit all this. All right, Doug, back to you then. Man. Before we say goodbye, it's time for Doug's test.

[D]

Super.

[A]

We're going to talk some basement myths. Is Social Security going to disappear in 2032?

[D]

Yes.

[A]

No. It will not disappear. It's going to be a smaller number. If Congress does nothing, potentially. But Congress does nothing. We're looking at 78% able to fund it at 78%.

[D]

Be afraid.

[A]

Number two, I should always wait till age 70.

[D]

Not always.

[A]

Not always, but 70. Oh, gee. Nodded his head. Because I think you want to bias towards 70, but it truly comes down to whether you need the money. I should wait until 72.

[D]

Well, no, because they're sending you money at 70. Regardless. Sorry. Irregardless,

[A]

we don't get. We. There's no extra credit for waiting past 70. My Social Security can never be taxed.

[D]

Not true.

[A]

Not true. Correct. My spouse's claiming decision doesn't affect mine claiming decisions.

[D]

It could.

[A]

That's correct. It is false. I'm like, is that the answer is yes, it could.

[D]

Which means I didn't realize I was constrained to true or false answering. Convention.

[A]

I should review my Social Security earnings history every few years.

[D]

You should. Which is equivalent to a true response.

[A]

True. Correct. Nice job. Good work. All right, so the CNBC story is about Congress, but is you stacking going away in 2032?

[D]

You heard it, folks.

[A]

Retirement doesn't happen in Congress. It's at your kitchen table. And after today, I hope your question isn't, when should I take Social Security? I hope it's, how do we build the smartest claiming strategy we possibly can? Because those are different questions and a much better question than when is Congress going to address this because as OG opened this up a little fiery, Doug. He opened up a little fiery.

[D]

That had nothing to do with the topic and everything to do with golf tickets.

[C]

It turned into having golf tickets is the problem.

[A]

We're going to go briefly out to the back porch because, Doug, I. I wanted to tell you something. We are. I am home for the next few weeks. I am actually sending out some books to people who gave us reviews and sent them to me. Now, don't send us a review of our show if you're just looking for a book, but my goodness, if you do give us a review, and I know I often only review stuff when I'm not that happy with it. So if you love the show, we always are looking for other stackers to help other people with financial certainty, financial literacy. And certainly next month, by the way, we're going to be talking about financial action. More to come about that later on this week. We're going to be talking about taking action. Everybody wants financial literacy. Let's talk about what you actually are going to do. And we're going to dedicate the entire month of August to financial actions. But if you leave us a review, write me joestackybenjamins.com because you'll help somebody else. And you also help me get off mom's bad side because she's like, this basement's filling up with books. People send us books unsolicited, by the way. Some people send us books because I'm prepping for an interview. Other people send me books hoping to get on the show, and they all got to go. I just don't have enough room for all these. So help me help you.

[D]

You should unsubscribe from that Adult Book of the Month club, Joe. Then stop sending them to you.

[A]

You know, Adult Book of the Month can mean two different things. It could mean an adult that's a book that's not for kids. Or it could mean a book that's not for kids. Yeah, that's going to do it for the Back Porch for today. Thank you so much for listening. We got a special week this week as we kick off Financial Action month next month. We are doing not one, not two, not three shows like we usually do. We got five shows this week, special shows tomorrow and Thursday. Yes. But at the end of every show, we asked Doug what should we have learned from today's episode?

[D]

And you're telling me I got to do this five times next week? This week, this week? It's not in my union contract. Well, Joe. First, take some advice from our Social Security discussion. Find out your amounts ahead of time. Pay attention to how Social Security Social Security is calculated and file your paperwork on time and according to your plan. That way the money is there when you need it and as you need it. Second, take some advice from og. Learn how the Social Security system or the Masters Tickets raffle works well ahead of time, just like OG's brother apparently did, and you'll be rewarded. That wasn't the point of OG's story. I should probably go back and listen. But the big lesson don't get excited about Warner Brothers cartoons around Joe's mom. When you ask for seconds at dinner, she's just going to look at you and say, that's all, folks. Also nailed that one. Ready to celebrate Financial Action Month? So are we. Grab your bingo sheet to play along with all the festivities in August at stackingbenjamins.com bingo and when we roll on Monday, you'll be prepared. Coming up tomorrow in this special week of shows, she's the CBS business expert and the host of Jill on Money. That's right, Jill Schlesinger stops by along with a woman who says companies aren't offering the most needed benefits and there's an easy fix. Christy Tallorico also joins us on a wild and woolly Tuesday in this special pre kickoff week of shows. This show is the property of SP Podcast, LLC, Copyright 2026 and is created by Joe Salsihai. You'll find out about our awesome [e-mail] along with the show notes and how you can find us on YouTube and all the usual social media media spots. Come say hello. And oh yeah, before I go, not only should you not take advice from these nerds, don't take advice from people you don't know. This show is for entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial decisions, speak with a real financial advisor. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug, and we'll see you next time back here at the Stacking Benjamin Show.

[C]

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[B]

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