| Social Security column By Karyl Richson |
| Social Security Public Affairs Specialist |
| in Milwauke, WI |
| Apply now for January 2007 retirement |
| Before the excitement of the holiday rush takes over, take a moment to do something important for yourself. For people who plan to retire at the start of the new year, now is the time to put things in motion. |
| If you are planning to retire in 2007 and you want your Social Security monthly payments to begin in January, apply for benefits now and get the paperwork done before the start of the busy holiday season. If you act now, your monthly payments will begin on time in 2007. |
| Applying for Social Security retirement benefits is easy. Just visit your local office or call 1-800-772-1213. Or, better still, you can use our most convenient method and apply over the Internet at www.socialsecurity.gov/applytoretire. Social Security's Internet benefit application was recently ranked as the top electronic business transaction site in the federal government by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. |
| To help prepare yourself for filing an application for retirement benefits, you may want to read "How to apply for Retirement Benefits" at www.socialsecurity.gov/r&m2.htm. This site lists many of the questions you will be asked, as well as many of the documents you may need. But don't delay filing your claim just because you don't have all the documents. Social Security can help you get them. If you are thinking about retirement but are not sure, we have online tools to help you. Visit our online retirement planner site at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/. |
| Before you head to the mall to shop for the holidays, do something for yourself -- apply now for your 2007 retirement benefits. You'll be thankful you did. |
| Why Social Security's 'COLA' is so beneficial |
| Among the many important features of a monthly Social Security benefit is the annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA). |
| Each year, all Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments increase automatically based on the rise in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), from the third quarter of the prior year to the corresponding period of the current year. This year, benefits will go up by 3.3 percent. |
| The 3.3 percent COLA will begin with benefits that nearly 49 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2007. Increased payments to more than 7 million Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries will begin on December 29, 2006. |
| Without an annual COLA, benefit payments would not have the same spending power. This is especially important as today's retirees live longer, with life expectancy at an all-time high. That is why many financial planners point out that the annual COLA is such an important feature, and one that relatively few private pensions have. |
| While the annual COLA is automatic today, prior to 1975 it took an act of Congress to increase Social Security benefit payments. The first increase was not put into effect until 1950 ? a full decade after monthly benefits began. If you would like to learn more about COLAs, including the one recently announced for 2007, visit Social Security's website at www.socialsecurity.gov, where you also will find a wealth of information about Social Security and its programs. |
| Social Security and adopted children |
| November is National Adoption Month, a time when Americans focus on the increasing number of children waiting for adoption and the parents who wish to adopt them. More than a hundred thousand children are adopted every year by American families. Some are adopted through local child welfare systems; some are adopted by step parents or family friends or relatives of children whose parent or parents have died; and some are children from other countries. |
| If you are considering adoption, or if you have already adopted a child, here is important information you should know about adopted children and Social Security. |
| All adoptive parents should remember that their child usually needs a Social Security number (SSN) if they intend to claim the child on their annual income tax returns, or to get medical coverage or apply for any government services for the child. |
| While an adopted child can be assigned an SSN before the adoption is complete, sometimes parents will want to wait and apply for a Social Security card after the process has been completed. Then they can apply for the number using the child's new name and use their own names as parents. If adoptive parents want to claim their child for tax purposes while the adoption is still pending, they need to contact the Internal Revenue Service for Form W-7A, Application for Taxpayer Identification Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions. |
| If the child already had a Social Security number before adoption, and you now want to report a name change to Social Security, you need to complete an Application for a Social Security Card (Form SS-5) and show us proof of the child's U.S. citizenship or immigration status, proof of the child's name change (the adoption degree), and proof of the child's identity. In addition, you need to provide proof of your identity as the child's adoptive parent. |
| Also, the process for getting an SSN can be slightly more involved for parents adopting children from outside of the United States. Although children immigrating to the United States qualify for citizenship, Social Security still requires specific documents to issue SSNs. Parents of children adopted from abroad should contact their local Social Security office for more information. |
| If you are the parent of an adopted child with a disabling condition, your child may qualify for benefits under the Supplemental Security Income program, also known as SSI. SSI can pay monthly benefits to children who are disabled and whose families have little income and resources. A child under 18 is considered disabled if his or her physical or mental condition is so severe that it results in severe functional limitations, and if the condition is expected to last at least 12 months. |
| There are other Social Security benefits and situations that parents of adopted children should know about. For example, Social Security provides benefit payments to the widow or widower and children (natural or adopted) of deceased workers. If a widowed parent remarries and the new spouse wants to adopt the child as his or her own, the child's survivors benefit payments would continue until the child reaches age 18 (or up to age 19 if attending elementary or secondary school full time). |
| To learn more about Social Security benefits for children, visit Social Security's Parent's Place at www.SocialSecurity.gov/kids/parent1.htm. To learn more about the requirements for getting a Social Security number, visit our website at www.socialsecurity.gov/ssnumber/ or call us at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) and ask for a copy of our publication, Social Security Numbers for Children. |
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