Social Security For Dummies Paperback – June 7, 2016

There is a lot online content. Some of it ls misleading and some is outright incorrect. That is why I recommend the book below.Note: This is a review of four books. You may have to scroll down to the specific book you are interested in."Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security" by Laurence J Kotlikoff, Philip Moeller, and Paul SolmanIf you are a numbers person, mathematician, math teacher, engineer, scientist, accountant, or financial planner then this is probably the best book for you. Get the latest edition. I have read four books,cover to cover, on Social Security and how to get the most from it. This is and will be the last book purchased because it has done the best job at explaining what I wanted to know. No book can explain all of SS and the many options available. This answered many but not all of my questions and gave me a very good understanding to the complexity of Social Security. If I had bought this book 1st, I know I would have bought some of the other books in hopes of finding the solution I wanted and I would have been disappointed in the other books.You do not need this book or any book for that matter if:You've never been married.You've never been disabled.You are not supporting a disabled parent or child.Your spouse (deceased, divorced, or still married to you) has never paid into Social Security.You have never worked for a government agency.You have no other pension benefits owed to you.You will not marry (or remarry) after you retire.You may have already begun receiving benefits and figure it is too late to change anything - that there is no "do overs." This book explains if possible, how, when, and what you can do to undo your Social Security filing. Basically, you must have just started receiving SS payments within the last 12 months. If so, you can undo what you have done. This book explains how.If you figure, you will make an appointment with Social Security and they will answer your specific questions and concerns, then you may not know all you need to know to ask the right questions. We went to our local Social Security office and we had two phone appointments. We spent a total time of 6 hours waiting and talking. The majority was waiting. The people within Social Security do try to do their best to help you but after reading this book I understand how none of them can know everything there is to know about Social Security. None of them gave me false information even if some of what we were told was a tad misleading. I feel they try their best and, in general, are good at their job. Information from Social Security should not be a substitute for getting and reading this book.If you are not that interested in having to trudge through a book like this one. One of the authors, Laurence J Kotlikoff, has on-line software home license for sale - Maximize My Social Security. While I can not review this software, I can let you know that it is available. I have to believe this is one of the better software on the market."Social Security for Dummies, 2nd Edition", by Jonathan PetersonThis is the 1st book on Social Security that I read. It is my second choice of Social Security books. It is easy to read and contains a lot of tips. It is not as extensive as Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security. Still it is a good basic primer on Social Security. It does contain several online links to help. One of the best links is from Dummies.com.I can recommend this book for those who want more than just general information that you can find at www.ssa.gov. It will answer many question about a variety of situations. It will provide a good starting point before talking with Social Security. It does fill a need but if your situation is complex this may not meet your needs. "Social Security Income Planning: The Baby Boomer Guide to Maximize Your Retirement Benefits" by Mark J OrrThis is the third book I purchased. It did have information not found in the Dummies book. It is a well written book with more information but a bit harder for me to follow. At this, I was looking specific information. In my haste, I may have missed what I needed. While a good book, I would not recommend it."Social Security Simplified: The Complete Guide to Understanding Social Security" by ClydeBank FinanceThis was the second book I purchased. It was either free or less than $5 as an eBook. Beyond the presumptuousness of the title, it is worth a read. The simplified guide to Social Security would be similar to the simplified guide to rocket science. My recommendation is that if its free, download it. If it costs anything, save your money and purchase my 1st recommendation.

This particular edition is a bit old, but mostly pertinent to 2022.

good book, timely

This is the go-to book for what you want to know about Social Security. It is plain English and covers every topic imaginable. The best part is that it's organized in such a way that you can skip the parts that don't pertain to you, and come back to that section another time if your circumstances change. For example, social security disability is covered in a section by itself so if that doesn't pertain to you, you can skip it. You may or may not have a dependent spouse or children. If not, you can skip that part. You get the idea. Take it chapter by chapter, and get out your yellow highlighter.

It has some good information in it. It's just so boring to read, I could never get through it. If what you're wanting are facts, this IS your book

I'm very happy with the information in this book. I'm starting to plan for full retirement in six years and everything about social security is new to me so I found this book full of useful suggestions. Any parts that did not apply to me were easily skipped. I will read through the book many times over the next few years. Easy read and I recommend it as a great starting point for anyone.

Great guide if you’re arriving at that time. Great explanations, easy to understand. Good value.

Its a good book, but the entire SS process is not understandable. Not at all. I wonder how the people that work there "get it." and I'm not stupid. I have a Masters degree. They should offer a Masters in "Social Security". Then you may have a fighting chance. Maybe.