Almost half of adults ages 50 and above—47 percent—failed a simple 5-question Social Security quiz that mutual life insurance company MassMutual recently sent out in an online survey. But there's a silver lining in that those results are actually an improvement from a similar survey conducted three years ago. That 10-question quiz resulted in a failure rate for 72 percent of the general population and a 62 percent defeat for those ages 50 and up.
Two topics that stumped quiz takers were the ideal age for claiming Social Security and spousal eligibility to receive retirement benefits. When asked to answer true or false to the statement, “Under current Social Security law, my benefits will not be reduced if I claim them at age 65,” only 49 percent answered the correct answer, “False.” Another question that stumped respondents asked them to answer true or false to the statement, “My spouse is eligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits, even if he or she has no individual earnings history.” Just 54 percent of respondents responded with the correct answer, which is “True.”
Another key finding of MassMutual’s research found that 86 percent of respondents ages 50 to 59 have not set up an online account with the Social Security Administration. Setting up a My Social Security account not only helps you protect your benefits from getting stolen, it also helps you double check your earnings record upon which those benefits are based.
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