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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
May 29, 2014 Camila Gallardo
(305) 215-4259
cgallardo@nclr.org
Town hall in Miami focuses on how Latinos can plan for a more beneficial retirement
MIAMI—A town hall held in Miami today brought together Latino workers who are thinking about when to retire and begin collecting Social Security benefits. Attendees at the forum, hosted by NCLR (National Council of La Raza) and AARP, learned how they can significantly increase their Social Security retirement benefits by delaying when they claim them. Participants learned that waiting even one extra year could make a big difference in their benefits for the rest of their lives. The forum, which was called “Latinos and Social Security: It Pays to Wait,” held in Spanish and part of the Latinos and Social Security ¡Tu Futuro Cuenta! campaign, featured Social Security experts who shared information with the largely Latino audience.
“One of the most important decisions we make is when to start receiving Social Security retirement benefits,” said Leticia Miranda, Senior Policy Advisor, Economic Security Policy, NCLR. “The gains from waiting are greater now than they used to be. Previously the bonus for delaying one year was 3 percent. Now it can be up to 8 percent. It is more beneficial than ever to delay claiming Social Security.”
Consider, for example, a worker whose monthly benefit would be $750 if they retired at age 62. That worker would get $800 if they delayed one year and $866 if they delayed two years. If that worker delayed until age 66 they would get $1,000 in monthly benefits, and if they delayed all the way to age 70 they would get $1,320.
“Heavy dependence on Social Security means that Latinos can benefit from any strategies to increase their Social Security benefits. Over half of Latino seniors (55 percent) depend on Social Security for almost all of their income. In addition, average yearly benefits for Hispanic seniors are just $13,295 for men and $10,500 for women. And Latino seniors are more than twice as likely to live in poverty compared to all American seniors—21 percent versus 9 percent. Latinos could reduce their poverty in old age and increase their benefits by adopting strategies such as delaying when they receive benefits,” said Miranda.
The decision about when to begin collecting benefits also affects a worker’s spouse and survivors. Since a surviving widow or widower is entitled to 100 percent of their deceased spouse’s benefits, the primary worker can provide more protection to their survivor by delaying when they take benefits. Living spouses can maximize their benefits by waiting until their full retirement age to collect spousal benefits.
In Miami-Dade County, Social Security contributes more than $4.8 billion annually to the local economy by paying benefits to more than 402,543 beneficiaries, including retirees, disabled workers and children. Social Security contributes $55 billion to the Florida economy, serves over four million residents of Florida and prevents 1.6 million of them from living in poverty.
The Miami forum is also part of a larger campaign by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) called When to Take Social Security: It Pays to Wait. This campaign informs American workers about the benefits of delaying when they claim Social Security. Other groups participating in this campaign include the National Women’s Law Center and the National Urban League.
NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.
For more information about the NASI campaign, visit www.nasi.org/WhenToTakeSocialSecurity.
For more information about AARP, visit www.aarp.org.
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