Coordinating benefits with a spouse is a common talking point in discussing how and when to apply for Social Security benefits. These spousal coordination discussions often revolve around maximizing your retirement benefits as soon as possible, which is a common and reasonable concern. But this view ignores an important detail: one spouse will likely outlive…
Steven C. Johnson, ChFC®
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Steve is a Chartered Financial Consultant, designee (ChFC) and a veteran of the investment and financial planning industries who began his career in 1989 with a large national financial services firm as a Financial Advisor and Investment Management professional. In 2001, Steve joined Finivi and has served on their executive and investment committees since that time.
For over 27 years, he has been guiding individuals and families in helping achieve the retirement lifestyles they desire, through comprehensive retirement income planning, a keen understanding of the myriad of Social Security claiming strategies available to help maximize one's benefits, and by suitably aligning their retirement investment portfolios with their income and lifestyle goals.
Steve also serves as the Director of the firm's Financial Education and Corporate Financial Wellness Programs that deliver financial education workshops and webinars to individuals, public and private corporations, colleges and universities, and social and fraternal organizations throughout the country.
Steve's ability to take complex financial and investing topics and break them down into easy to understand and actionable ideas for both clients and workshop participants have made him a sought-after advisor and speaker on the topics of social security, retirement planning, and investment management.
Steve is also active in the industry having served as the Past President of the Worcester, MA Chapter of The Society of Financial Services Professionals (SFSP) and is an active member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA).
Steve and his wife Robin have three children and live in the beautiful Merrimack Valley area of Massachusetts.
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Recent Articles by Steven:
What Your Employees Don’t Know About Social Security
In the past, an employer had a fairly simple job when it came to educating employees on retirement: most companies offered defined benefit pension plans, and education only had to cover the specific details of when employees were eligible for benefits and how much they could expect from those benefits These days, employers must offer…
What’s the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit for 2018?
It’s so early in 2018 that the Social Security website has yet to update many of its statistics, but there is good news for those collecting Social Security benefits. The maximum benefit increased slightly this year from $2,687 to $2,788 for those collecting at full retirement age. This maximum benefit is includes all types of…
Claiming Your Social Security Early and The Tax Torpedo
If you’re worried about outliving your nest egg, you might assume that you’ll be better off taking your Social Security benefits early so you can allow your investments to continue to grow untouched. Unfortunately, this plan does not take into account the issue of how taxes affect your Social Security benefits. In particular, taking early…
How Social Security COLAs Are Calculated Might Surprise You
When the Social Security Administration first started paying out benefits in the 1940s, there was no provision in place for how to deal with inflation. Unfortunately, this meant that early beneficiaries saw the buying power of their benefits eroded as the years went by. This is why the Social Security Administration enacted the annual cost-of-living-adjustment…
9 Things You May Need to Know Before Claiming Social Security Retirement Benefits
Most Americans look forward to the day that they can start claiming Social Security Retirement Income. In fact, many aren’t just looking forward to it; they are depending on it! The Office of Retirement and Disability Policy recently reported that 62% of aged beneficiaries received at least half of their income from Social Security in…
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