Maximize Social Security: The Smart Retiree's Guide to a Bigger Check for Life (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798198476752)

What if the difference between the retirement you're dreading and the one you're dreaming of came down to a single decision - one most people get wrong?

Every year, retirees leave tens of thousands of dollars on the table. Not because they did anything foolish, but because no one ever handed them the instructions. Social Security is one of the largest financial assets you will ever own - and it arrives with all the clear guidance of a furniture kit translated from another language.

This book is the instructions.

Written by retirement strategist and financial fiduciary Derek Ifasi, Maximize My Social Security cuts through the 2,728 rules and 567 possible claiming combinations to show you, in plain and even occasionally funny English, how to claim a bigger check - and keep more of it - for the rest of your life.

Inside, you'll discover:

• The single timing decision that can swing your lifetime income by $100,000 or more
• Why your "full retirement age" is the most important number in your retirement - and how claiming early locks in a permanent 30% pay cut
• The spousal, divorced-spouse, and survivor benefits millions qualify for and never claim
• How to stop the IRS from quietly taxing away your benefits
• The little-known "do-over" rules that can undo a claiming mistake you've already made
• A brand-new tax break for seniors worth thousands - available only for a limited window

This is not a 400-page government manual with the personality of a parking ticket. It's a clear, practical, page-turning guide built around one simple idea: you can understand this - and once you do, you'll never look at that claiming form the same way again.

Your Social Security check is almost certainly smaller than it should be. It doesn't have to stay that way.

If you are within ten years of retirement - or already retired and unsure you got it right - this is the book to read before you file another piece of paper.

Claim the retirement you've earned. Start here.