kathleensindell.com

Kathleen Sindell, Ph.D. Receives the
2017 Norma Severns Award for Leadership

GCSRi Publishing is pleased to announce personal finance expert Kathleen Sindell, Ph.D. has received the 2017 Financial Planning Association, National Capital Area (FPA NCA) Norma Severns Leadership Award. The Norma Severns Leadership Award is annually presented to an individual who displays extraordinary efforts to advocate for ethical and objective financial planning and to advance the FPANCA’s mission to adhere to the highest ethical and professional standards.

Dr. Kathleen Sindell has been a member of FPA NCA since 2008 and was nominated by her peers. Dr. Sindell was an FPA Annual Conference Task Force Member, on the FPA NCA Board of Directors for seven years, and is an Editorial Advisory Board Member for the Journal of Financial Planning.

About FPA NCA
FPA NCA is one of the largest chapters in the country with over 900 members. It is the preeminent organization for financial planning professionals in the Washington, DC area, including the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland, and Northern Virginia. The FPA NCA provides a forum for education and career development for its members while adhering to the highest ethical and professional standards. www.fpanca.org

About Kathleen Sindell, Ph.D.
Dr. Sindell is the author of numerous academic, popular, and professional finance articles, Web sites, proposals, and books, including the bestselling reference book, “Investing Online for Dummies, Eds 1-5” (listed for two consecutive years on the Wall Street Journal’s Bestselling Business Book List). Her most recent book “Social Security: Maximize your Benefits” her 14th finance / business reference book.

Kathleen Sindell, Ph.D. has over 25-years of experience in designing and developing learning objectives, instructional activities and curriculum using adult learning principles and various media and tools to achieve maximum results in the shortest time. Dr. Sindell is certified to teach Business and Industrial Management, Banking and Finance by the California Board of Governors (Certificate #19507). Dr. Sindell has held academic positions in business and finance at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) and the Johns Hopkins University.

Sindell was a practitioner faculty member of the Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business for 16 years. At UMUC she is a full professor (adjunct) and Chair of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Program. She successfully worked for the initial approval of the CFP program and oversaw the renewal of the CFP program registration. The CFP Board granted the UMUC CFP program renewal with “commendation.” Sindell assisted in the development of a UMUC CFP Advisory Board and UMUC Financial Planning Association (FPA) Student Chapter. Dr. Sindell develops and teaches the CFP Board approved courses of Financial Wealth Building, Health and Life Insurance, Investing, Retirement and Estate Planning, and the Financial Plan Development Capstone course. Contact Kathleen Sindell, Ph.D. at ksindell@kathleensindell.com.

The Real Impact of Early Retirement on Spouses

For individuals who retire early and have a Full-Retirement Age (FRA) of 66 (which means they were born between 1943 and 1954), the monthly reduction of benefits for the primary earner and the spouse are significant.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) at their Web site located at http://socialsecurity.gov/OACT/quickcalc/earlyretire.html indicates how the monthly reduction is calculated. If the primary earner’s Full Retirement Age (FRA) benefit is $1,000 per month and he (or she) retires at age 62, the reduction is 25 percent ($750 per month). If the spouse also retires at age 62 the reduction of 30 percent. In other words, the $500 (one-half of the primary earner’s benefit) is reduced to $350. Therefore, the primary earner and spouse will receive $1,100 per month. If the couple had waited until FRA, the monthly benefit would be $1,500. This is a significant reduction.

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), a spouse receives one-half of the retired worker’s full benefit unless the spouse begins collecting benefits before FRA. If the spouse begins collecting benefits before FRA, the amount of the spouse’s benefit is reduced by a percentage based on the number of months before he or she reaches FRA.

For example, based on the full retirement age of 66, if a spouse begins collecting benefits:

At age 65, the benefit amount would be about 46 percent of the retired worker’s full benefit;
At age 64, it would be about 42 percent;
At age 63, 37.5 percent; and
At age 62, 35 percent.
However, if a spouse is taking care of a child who is either under age 16 or disabled and receives Social Security benefits, a spouse will get full benefits, regardless of age.

If you are eligible for both your own retirement benefit and for benefits as a spouse, the SSA will always pay benefits based on your work record first. If your benefit as a spouse is higher than your retirement benefit, you will receive a combination of benefits equaling the higher spouse’s benefits.