Includes bibliographical references (299-306) and index.

Getting Paul nearly $50,000 in extra benefits over tennis -- Life's biggest danger isn't dying, it's living -- Social security: From A to Zzzzzzzz -- Three general rules to maximize your lifetime benefits -- Strategies to follow the three rules -- Be careful taking social security's advice -- The benefits of not retiring -- Playing social security's marital status game -- Married with benefits -- Gay couples get to claim what's theirs -- Divorced? Dark clouds and silver linings -- Widowed? Why social security is a major women's issue -- Never married or divorced too soon -- Hidden benefits for the disabled -- Government pensions and windfall penalties -- 50 good-news secrets to higher lifetime benefits -- 25 bad-news gotchas that can reduce your benefits forever -- Whither social security?

Want to know how to navigate the forbidding maze of Social Security and emerge with the highest possible benefits? You could try reading all 2,728 rules of the Social Security system (and the thousands of explanations of these rules), but Kotlikoff, Moeller, and Solman explain Social Security benefits in an easy to understand style. What you don't know can seriously hurt you: wrong decisions about which Social Security benefits to apply for cost some individual retirees tens of thousands of dollars in lost income every year. How many retirees or those nearing retirement know about such Social Security options as file and suspend (apply for benefits and then don't take them)? Or start stop start (start benefits, stop them, then re-start them)? Or -- just as important -- when and how to use these techniques? Get What's Yours covers the most frequent benefit scenarios faced by married retired couples, by divorced retirees, by widows and widowers, among others. It explains what to do if you're a retired parent of dependent children, disabled, or an eligible beneficiary who continues to work, and how to plan wisely before retirement. It addresses the tax consequences of your choices, as well as the financial implications for other investments. You've paid all your working life for these benefits. Now, get what's yours.