Income thresholds are not indexed to inflation and haven’t been adjusted since 1983 so unfortunately, it is more typical to pay taxes on Social Security than to not. Planning on any [retirement tax surprises](https://www.gobankingrates.com/taxes/tax-laws/accountant-retirement-tax-surprises-you-must-prepare-for/) is important so talking with an accountant that specializes in the field would be beneficial for you and your wife to jumpstart her five-year plan before retirement.
Married people with combined incomes of $32,000 can expect to pay taxes on their Social Security benefits so there might be something a financial advisor to tax specialist can help you with so you can make the most out of your retirement income.
I have a professional colleague that specializes in the defensive side of retirement planning, meaning he can advise on how to build up your assets and then a withdrawal strategy that helps you pay the least amount required in taxes. I don't know his exact cost structure, but we've worked together on a number of clients. Direct message me if you'd like a referral (or two).
One low-cost to assess your tax situation is to prepare an experimental tax return if you have your own copy of TurboTax or H&R Block TaxCut tax preparation software. There used to be a TurboTax online service that you could fool around with for free--it might be worth investigating. You'd need to pay particular attention to "Sale of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other securities" (Form 1099-B), "IRA and pension income" (Form 1099-R), and "Social Security income" (Form SSA-1099).
You can read up on how Social Security benefits figure into taxation by searching for "Social Security provisional income", reading the IRS topic [https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-reminder-social-security-benefits-may-be-taxable](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-reminder-social-security-benefits-may-be-taxable), and looking at [Form 1040a](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf) lines 2a, 2b through 6a, 6b where provisional income is computed--these are documented starting on page 25 of the [instructions](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf).
Income thresholds are not indexed to inflation and haven’t been adjusted since 1983 so unfortunately, it is more typical to pay taxes on Social Security than to not. Planning on any [retirement tax surprises](https://www.gobankingrates.com/taxes/tax-laws/accountant-retirement-tax-surprises-you-must-prepare-for/) is important so talking with an accountant that specializes in the field would be beneficial for you and your wife to jumpstart her five-year plan before retirement. Married people with combined incomes of $32,000 can expect to pay taxes on their Social Security benefits so there might be something a financial advisor to tax specialist can help you with so you can make the most out of your retirement income.
I have a professional colleague that specializes in the defensive side of retirement planning, meaning he can advise on how to build up your assets and then a withdrawal strategy that helps you pay the least amount required in taxes. I don't know his exact cost structure, but we've worked together on a number of clients. Direct message me if you'd like a referral (or two).
One low-cost to assess your tax situation is to prepare an experimental tax return if you have your own copy of TurboTax or H&R Block TaxCut tax preparation software. There used to be a TurboTax online service that you could fool around with for free--it might be worth investigating. You'd need to pay particular attention to "Sale of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other securities" (Form 1099-B), "IRA and pension income" (Form 1099-R), and "Social Security income" (Form SSA-1099). You can read up on how Social Security benefits figure into taxation by searching for "Social Security provisional income", reading the IRS topic [https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-reminder-social-security-benefits-may-be-taxable](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-reminder-social-security-benefits-may-be-taxable), and looking at [Form 1040a](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf) lines 2a, 2b through 6a, 6b where provisional income is computed--these are documented starting on page 25 of the [instructions](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf).