On November 2, 2015, Congress passed new legislation governing social security benefits. We’ll be updating our recommendations as you near your social security start date, but here’s an overview of the changes:

• FILE AND SUSPEND GOES AWAY. This advanced technique—primarily utilized by professionals and their clients—allowed you to provide benefits to your spouse while you suspend and watch your own benefits continue to grow. This feature will be eliminated except for those individuals who have already filed and suspended or those who turn 66 before 5/1/16.
• RESTRICTED APPLICATIONS GO AWAY. Previously you could withdraw spousal benefits while delaying your own until age 70. Those under age 62 as of 12/31/15 will no longer be eligible for this benefit.
• NO CHANGE – At Full Retirement Age (66-67), the spouse with lower social security benefits will still be eligible for a minimum of 50% of their spouse’s benefits.
• NO CHANGE – If you delay collecting social security after your full retirement age, your benefits still increase by 8% per year until age 70.

Despite Rick’s understated demeanor, he’s certainly one of the most important people on our team. Watch as he tells his origin story from his days at Anheuser-Busch.

Our son gave my wife the book Being Mortal for Mother’s Day. The author, Dr. Atul Gawande, is a surgeon in Boston, on the faculty at Harvard, and known for his best selling book The Checklist Manifesto. Whether you are caring for aging relatives or managing your own affairs as you reach your later years, I think it provides valuable insight on aging and death. It will force you to think about things most of us would rather not.

My personal takeaways were:

1. Stay in your home as long as possible.
2. Talk to multiple doctors to get more than one perspective on end-of-life health issues.
3. Talk to your children about what’s important to you and give them direction on what they can do.

I encourage you to pick up a copy and share your insights with your children.