Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
DW has her Full Retirement Age coming up in October of 2024. She starts Medicare in February 2023, we'll pay Medicare Premiums out of our House Account (it will be a significant reduction in her current Health Care Cost).
She will get an increase at her FRA Social Security amount to bring it up to 50% of my Primary Ins Amount when I first reached my FRA. Does her SS amount ever increase to more than 50% of my PIA ??
In other words -- would a 2024 COLA get factored in when she files her claim??
DW has her Full Retirement Age coming up in October of 2024. She starts Medicare in February 2023, we'll pay Medicare Premiums out of our House Account (it will be a significant reduction in her current Health Care Cost).
She will get an increase at her FRA Social Security amount to bring it up to 50% of my Primary Ins Amount when I first reached my FRA. Does her SS amount ever increase to more than 50% of my PIA ??
In other words -- would a 2024 COLA get factored in when she files her claim??
There are 2 options for the DW
At her FRA she can claim on her own work record.
She is over 62 and can claim as a spouse. This is where the 1/2 of your benefit comes in.
SS will choose which benefit is larger to pay.
Both will benefit from COLA. The percentage will be the same but the amount will differ. In later years her benefit would change as a survivor.
Next question comes from when she will be paid:
Birth Date 1-10 paid on 2nd Wednesday
Birth Date 11-20 paid on 3rd Wednesday
Birth Date 21-31 paid on 4th Wednesday
SS does have 2023 Schedule of Benefit Payments on their website.
There’s a decent book, “Get whats yours”, with a lot of information about when to claim social security. Probably at your local library. Took me a few hours to read and I almost feel like typing out a bunch of questions to get a better understanding of your situation and offer advice… but it’s complicated and as a general rule, don’t file until you’re 70. If she has no worthwhile work history and is claiming spouse benefit… there’s a chapter on that
She is over 62 and can claim as a spouse. This is where the 1/2 of your benefit comes in.
SS will choose which benefit is larger to pay.
Both will benefit from COLA. The percentage will be the same but the amount will differ. In later years her benefit would change as a survivor.
Next question comes from when she will be paid:
Birth Date 1-10 paid on 2nd Wednesday
Birth Date 11-20 paid on 3rd Wednesday
Birth Date 21-31 paid on 4th Wednesday
SS does have 2023 Schedule of Benefit Payments on their website.
Have to say that some months can really stink because of when the last day of the month and start of next month is, it makes the pay date farther out. There are a few months it's been on the 14th which feels like a 3 week wait instead of a 2 week (birthday is beginning of the month) wait.
I got into the habit of looking at when the 2nd Wednesday is for the next month so I knew if my check would be sooner or later when I have bills due before the 12th to 14th. Since Wednesday is the 3rd this month, it means checks come the 10th which is not a bad wait at all. September will be the 14th.
Thankful I don't have to wait for 3rd and 4th Wednesday lol
Thanks for all the good responses. I may have asked my question incorrectly.
DW's work history is not a long one. She was a Stay At Home Mom and our dear daughter benefited greatly from her early years with my DW.....no way to put a price tag on that.
My question is -- would DW get a larger benefit check by waiting until her FRA (66 and 8 months)?
Based upon her work history, that amount would be lower than half of my PIA from my full retirement age. So she would get a boost of a couple of hundred dollars per month.
I don't believe it benefits us that much to wait until she turns 70.
How are COLA's applied to her amount after that ?? Will her amount always be less than half my PIA ??
BTW -- I read the book that Marci recommended. It was full (and I mean FULL ) of scenarios.....but I don't recall the author discuss the Timing of Spousal Claims.
When she files, she is deemed to be filing for her own benefit at the same time. You seem to understand the formula as she has her own earned benefit but will be getting a "boost" from your benefit too.
The only way to increase her amount is to wait to file. And she'd only be increasing her earned amount. She cannot increase the "boost"portion of her benefit because that is a spousal benefit that is never increased beyond 50% of your benefit at Full Retirement Age.
However... you also have to look into Spousal benefits to ensure your Social Security Amount is enough for her live on if you passed away. Because if your amount is higher, she can transfer to taking that amount. I am not sure if you waited until age 70 to take SS she'd have to wait until 70 to get the full amount, I am not that knowledgeable about survivor benefits (but would love to know)
They made that MUCH harder than it needed to be !!
So is there any reason for DW to delay filing for her Social Security.....claiming even before her Full Retirement Age of 66 and 8 months in October 2024?? She's going to be 'deemed' at any rate, and still get an increase based on my work record.
Edit to add -- She gets a percentage of my PIA,gradually rising up to 50% at her FRA ....that's the difference.
Between age 62 and their full retirement age, the amount is permanently reduced by a percentage based on the number of months up to their full retirement age.
If your spouse is under full retirement age and:
Work while receiving benefits, the retirement earnings test may affect their benefits.
Also qualifies on their own record, their application will include both benefits.
At their full retirement age, the spouse’s benefit cannot exceed one-half of your full retirement amount.
There is an example where if her earning record would pay $100 & 1/2 of the spouse would pay $400 she would get $400.
The good news is your benefit is not reduced by the spouse. For this example you could budget $800 + $400 = $1200.
This is from my memory a few years ago. If your wife retired before her FRA she would get a reduced benefit and this reduction would stay with her for the rest of her life. My best guess is this also affects her increase to get her to 50% of your benefit. Thus maybe she would only get 48%.
In short lower wage earner takes SS at FRA and higher earner takes SS at age 70 to get the best deal assuming you both have a long life expectancy and you can afford to do this.
At your death I think she gets your full benefit since your SS will be higher. This can still present a problem if you need both of your SS checks to pay your basic bills. That is your expenses many not decrease as much as the lower lost SS payment.
They made that MUCH harder than it needed to be !!
So is there any reason for DW to delay filing for her Social Security.....claiming even before her Full Retirement Age of 66 and 8 months in October 2024?? She's going to be 'deemed' at any rate, and still get an increase based on my work record.
Edit to add -- She gets a percentage of my PIA,gradually rising up to 50% at her FRA ....that's the difference.
Let's say your Social Security at Full Retirement age is $2000 per mo..
DW qualifies for half of that at her FRA which is $1000. Waiting until later than Full Retirement age will not increase this amount.
however... lets say her earned benefit is $800 per month so your "boost" brings her up to $1000 per month. That $200 boost will never increase. She will get about an 8% increase on her earned $800 each year until age 70.
Regarding filing early, the 1k is reduced by about 6% per year until FRA. What are your ages? If you can green me with your SS amount at FRA, and when you took your SS so I know what you are getting, it would help me decide. That is optional of course and won't be posted here at all. I'll just green you back what I would do. Also if any of you have bad health problems, that can play into it too.
This is the king of social security- Devon Carrol is excellent and always spot on, explains it in plain easy to understand language. Other financial planners also say so who I follow like Josh scandlin from Heritage Wealth Planning also recommends him. https://www.youtube.com/c/DevinCarroll
If you wife will be working, she can earn about $1600 per month before getting part of that taken away then factored in later on. If not, no worries about that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
