Social Security Secrets Revealed in New Consuelo Mack WealthTrack Special Premiering Nationwide Beginning Friday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. on Public Television (check local listings)

Social Security Secrets Revealed in New Consuelo Mack WealthTrack Special Premiering Nationwide Beginning Friday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. on Public Television (check local listings)

"Maximizing Social Security Benefits" with Mary Beth Franklin features vital information for retirement planning

Full episodes available online at wealthtrack.com

NEW YORK, March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Americans plan for retirement there are Social Security benefits that many are not aware of. The new Consuelo Mack WealthTrack special "Maximizing Social Security Benefits"premieres nationwide beginning Friday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. on public television (check local listings) with vital information for retirement planning, especially for Baby Boomers, seniors, divorcees, and widows. WealthTrack Anchor and Managing Editor Consuelo Mack interviews "Social Security Guru" Mary Beth Franklin, contributing editor at InvestmentNews and former senior editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, who shares her little-known Social Security secrets - unearthed through extensive investigative research of Social Security policy. Franklin explains how claiming your benefits at the right age and the right way can mean a difference of tens of thousands of dollars in benefits over a lifetime.

Consuelo MackWealthTrack Social Security Secrets include:

1)Waiting to Collect Really Pays!
75% of Americans are expected to file for Social Security before the normal retirement age of 66 - a BIG mistake! It means losing 25% of your benefits over a lifetime. Plus, each year you delay collecting Social Security benefits between the ages of 66 and 70 means an 8% increase in benefits for life. By waiting until age 70 to collect, you get 32% more in benefits than you would if you started at 66.

2) Spousal Benefits = More Money in Your Pocket
Mack and Franklin discuss "file and suspend" and "power couple" strategies where one spouse can collect spousal benefits - half of your spouse's benefits - starting as early as 62 and still receive his or her own full benefits at 70.

3) Divorced People Can Claim the Social Security Benefits of Their Ex-Spouse
As long as you were married for 10 years and have not remarried, you can claim your ex's benefits. Your ex-spouse does not have to know, or even have claimed, his or her benefits. Same goes for survivor benefits.

4) Take Advantage of Survivor Benefits & Retirement Benefits
Widows and widowers can collect survivor benefits as early as age 60 (subject to earnings cap) and wait until age 70 to collect their full retirement benefits. For married couples, the bigger earner should wait as long as possible to claim benefits to increase both retirement and survivor benefits.

5) Social Security Claim "Do Overs"
If you've claimed your benefits early, you have 12 months from when you first claimed to change your mind and withdraw your claim, so you can receive the maximum benefits later. Beware you must pay back what you have already claimed when you withdraw.

Consuelo Mack says, "This is a must-see for every American adult. Social Security is the one pension plan available to the vast majority of Americans, but many of us are not taking advantage of all it has to offer. Award-winning journalist Mary Beth Franklin is on a mission to help us get the most out of Social Security." Preview the episode now on WLIW21 Video:http://watch.wliw.org/video/2205704538. Consuelo Mack WealthTrack"Maximizing Social Security Benefits" will stream online at wealthtrack.com beginning Monday, March 26.

Consuelo Mack WealthTrack is a presentation of WLIW21 in association with WNET. WNET is the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21, New York's public television stations. For nearly 50 years, WNET has been producing and broadcasting national and local documentary and other programs to the New York community. The series is distributed nationally by American Public Television and sponsored in part by New York Life and Mainstay Investments, Wintergreen Advisers, Loomis Sayles, and Research Affiliates.

About Consuelo Mack WealthTrack
Weekly financial series Consuelo Mack WealthTrack remains the only program on television devoted to long-term diversified investing, covering all of the investments people care about: stocks, bonds, real estate, "green investing," insurance, art, and collectibles. Consuelo Mack, an award-winning business journalist with an extensive rolodex, handpicks each guest based on their professional credentials, performance and integrity. Since July 2005, the series has provided trustworthy, understandable advice about building and protecting wealth over the long-term from the best minds in the business world. New episodes premiere every week on public television (check local listings). In the New York metro area, the series airs Fridays at 7:30 p.m. on WLIW21, Saturdays at 8 a.m. on THIRTEEN and Sundays at 9 a.m. on NJTV. In the Los Angeles area, the series airs Saturdays at 8 a.m. & 3 p.m. on PBS SoCal WORLD and Sundays at 3:30 p.m. on KLCS-TV. For more information, visit wealthtrack.com.

About WNET
New York's WNET is America's flagship public media outlet, bringing quality arts, education and public affairs programming to over 5 million viewers each week. The parent company of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Need to Know, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings available on air and online. Pioneers in educational programming, WNET has created such groundbreaking series as Get the Math, Noah Comprende and Cyberchase and provides tools for educators that bring compelling content to life in the classroom and at home. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Reel 13, NJ Today and the new online newsmagazine MetroFocus.

About American Public Television
American Public Television (APT) has been a leading distributor of high-quality, top-rated programming to America's public television stations since 1961. Since 2004, APT has distributed approximately half of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles. Among its 300 new program titles per year are prominent documentaries, news and current affairs programs, dramatic series, how-to programs, children's series and classic movies, including For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots, A Ripple of Hope, Rick Steves' Europe, Newsline, Globe Trekker, Simply Ming, Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope, America's Test Kitchen From Cook's Illustrated, Lidia's Italy, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home, Midsomer Murders, Moyers & Company, Doc Martin, Rosemary & Thyme, BBC World News, The Rat Pack: Live and Swingin', Johnny Mathis: Wonderful, Wonderful! and John Denver: The Wildlife Concert. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. In 2006, APT launched and nationally distributed Create® - the TV channel featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming. APT is also a partner in the WORLD(TM) channel expansion project including its web presence at WORLDcompass.org. For more information about APT's programs and services, visit APTonline.org. For more information on Create, visit CreateTV.com.

Press materials: www.wliw.org/pressroom or www.aptonline.org.
Websites: wealthtrack.com, facebook.com/wealthtrack, @consuelomack, and youtube.com/wealthtrack.

SOURCE WNET

WNET

Web Site: http://wealthtrack.com

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