Social Security Basics: 9 Essentials That Everyone Should Know

“The rules relating to social security are long, complex, and dry. This book distills the most relevant parts into a guide that is easy to follow.”

Brandon Renfro, Ph.D.

Devin Carroll brings you a condensed, straightforward guide that covers the nine essentials that everyone should know to navigate the maze of Social Security with confidence (without getting lost in the tangled web of Social Security rules). If you want to make sure you don't leave your Social Security benefits to chance, reading this book is a great first step in achieving that goal.

The Cure for Complexity

When Carroll first started studying Social Security, the massive website and rule book left him feeling like he was trying to drink from a fire hose. It was just too much information to make sense of all at once, and left him feeling overwhelmed.

Sound familiar? Carroll's later experiences with clients who were distressed, confused, and burned by the Social Security system convinced him that something must be done to help people take the overly complex, verbose, and altogether unruly Social Security rules and distill them down into something simple, actionable, and understandable. After spending the last several years studying, speaking, and writing on Social Security, Carroll discovered that most questions on the topic could be answered through a solid understanding of the basics.

That's what Carroll promises to teach you in this book: the essential knowledge you need to navigate Social Security benefits. In each chapter, Carroll details the specifics behind the rules, calculations, exceptions, and necessary information so you can correctly identify your own benefit, understand when you're entitled to more, make the best decision on when to file, and more.

What others are saying...

“Devin Carroll is the perfect person to untangle Social Security's mumbo-jumbo. He makes the rules simple to understand, taking concepts most people mess up and laying them out in an easy to understand format. Bravo!”
-Joe Saul-Sehy, Stacking Benjamins Podcast Creator and Host

“Devin’s book, Social Security Basics, is an indispensable resource in helping you make smart, informed decisions about your Social Security benefits so you’ll have a more confident and comfortable retirement ahead of you.”
-Russ Thornton, WealthcareForWomen.com

"Making decisions about Social Security benefits can be intimidating but it doesn’t have to be. This is a fantastic book to explain what you really need to know.”
David Waldrop, CFP - The Astute Advisor Blog and Bridgeview Capital Advisors

NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR

There are plenty of books that offer a comprehensive examination of Social Security benefits. That’s not what this book is about.  

In all the years I’ve spent in writing and speaking on the topic, I’ve found that most of the questions I receive can be answered with a good knowledge of just 9 of the Social Security basics.

You don’t need to do lots of painful studying or complex number-crunching to grasp the necessary concepts. Once you learn these basics, the rest of the Social Security system starts to make more sense.

This book could have been much larger and filled with extremely detailed, nuanced tidbits of information that may or may not apply to you. That’s not the book I set out to author. Entire chapters ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor because they weren’t critical pieces of knowledge you absolutely needed to understand Social Security.

What’s left are the basics you need to know to help you make a smart filing decision. I wanted to offer you a book of essentials, and even more importantly, a book you could actually use. With that being said, I hope you find this book fulfills that promise for you.

Warmly,

Devin Carroll