A viatical settlement is the sale of a life insurance policy by the policy owner before the policy matures. Such a sale, at a price discounted from the face amount of the policy but usually in excess of the premiums paid or current cash surrender value, provides the seller an immediate cash settlement. Similar to reverse mortgages, viatical settlements involve insured individuals with a life expectancy of less than five years. In countries with high health care costs (such as the United States), this is a practical way to pay extremely high health insurance premiums and other senior care expenses that severely ill people face. Some people are also familiar with life settlements, which are similar transactions but involve insureds with longer life expectancies (two to fifteen years). - From Wikipedia and other sources 5/2007Early Social Security Retirement: Is It Worth It?
So you want to retire early. According to the new rules by the Social Security Administration, a person may legally get social security retirement benefits by the age of sixty-two. Even if the benefits you're eligible to receive will be lower than the benefits when you apply at age 65, you're still allowed to retire earlier than what's prescribed by the retirement programs. So how do prepare for your early social security retirement then?
First, you must schedule for an interview with your local social security office. Since there are a lot of applicants for retirement benefits, it's best to schedule ahead of time...about a couple of months before you reach 62 years old will be the best time to schedule an appointment. Then obtain a certified copy of your birth certificate to prove your age. For naturalized citizens or permanent legal residents of the US, you must present too your naturalization papers and alien records. If you cannot provide any birth records, or you seem to have lost it, your local social security office will inform you about other acceptable proof that you can provide.
Once you submit your documents then the SSA will determine how much you should be getting every month. Because you're still at an age where you may still receive income from work, there would be differences in how you're going to receive your monthly checks. You may still work at that time, but your checks might be delayed, especially if the earnings you get from work yearly are over the annual social security earnings limit.
If you own a business, or if you're the head of a company, it might be hard for you to get approved of your early social security retirement. The local social security office might ask you for more information, such as tax records to IRS from previous years (both business and personal), and tax returns for every year until you reach 65 years. Still prior to that point, you will not receive the full benefits. But at age 65, it would be irrelevant for social security as to how much you're earning, even if you still own a business. Therefore you will only start earning full benefits by the time you reach the full retirement age.
The question here now is if you still can wait for the full retirement age just to get all the benefits from social security. It actually depends on your choice if you're going to submit your tax records to the SSA as a requirement or not. You might as well wait until you reach 65 years old - at that time you won't be questioned anymore if you still earn from other resources. If you have questions regarding your eligibility or how the benefits work, call the local social security office or call a social security lawyer for proper assistance.
For more information about Retirement Benefits and other social security claims, visit http://www.socialsecuritylawattorney.com
John Luke Matthews is a regular contributor of relevant articles about the jurisprudence of personal injury, employment, social security and disability. He is part of the Mesriani Law Group and is currently taking information technology studies as well.