With more and more people reaching retirement age, making decisions on where to get an income stream becomes very important. Years ago many people retired with pensions where their employers determined how much income they would receive. The employer had the responsibility to determine how much money you could receive without running out of funds if you live a nice long life.

Today most retirees might have a 401(k) or other savings and they have no idea how to make it last. Social security is the primary source for a guaranteed income stream. That is income they can count on for the rest of their life. But even then most retirees don’t understand the decisions they need to make or the strategies they can choose to optimize this extremely valuable benefit. So We decided to ask an expert.

Mary Beth Franklin is one of the country’s leading experts on Social Security and Medicare.

An award-winning journalist and Certified Financial Planner, Mary Beth writes a weekly column on retirement issues for Investment News, a publication for financial advisers. She is also author of the ebook, Maximizing Your Social Security Retirement Benefits.

Previously, Mary Beth served as the tax and retirement editor for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and editor of Kiplinger’s annual Retirement Planning Guide. Earlier in her career, Mary Beth was a Capitol Hill reporter for United Press International. She is a frequent guest on numerous radio and television programs.