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lenora correct me if i am wrong but it is all file and suspend here. as long as you do a file and suspend you can claim past benefits you suspended as a lump sum .
that is just a side benefit with file and suspend.
It is not clear in the things I have found. One thing for sure when the time comes to file I will be sure to make sure we file under the right thing, whatever they call it. Assuming of course they still offer that option at all, these days who knows and it may be moot if husband needs to go on Disabilty before full retirement time.
I do have another question if anyone knows, again could not find a straight answer at SS site, Say husband started collecting at FRA and I started collecting spousal at 64 and then say he dies a few months later, do I automatically get bumped to survivor benefits or can I continue the spousal, even though his checks stop with death, until I reach 66?
All I can find says a widow can begin receiving benefits as early as 60, reduced, or 50 if she is diabled, which I am, but not "officially", and it says that benefit will be reduced if she claims it before FRA but no where does it say what happens if you are already collecting a spousal benefit. Now I know the spousal benefit is reduced for life and the survivor benefit is not if you wait till FRA to claim it, but are you given that choice if you are already collecting something when the spouse dies?
OR will the spousal stop altogether until you claim the survivor benefit?
One of the problems is that all the articles and even the SS website, tend to both spouses having worked and one making less, very little in scenarios where the wife did not work at all.
It is not clear in the things I have found. One thing for sure when the time comes to file I will be sure to make sure we file under the right thing, whatever they call it. Assuming of course they still offer that option at all, these days who knows and it may be moot if husband needs to go on Disabilty before full retirement time.
I do have another question if anyone knows, again could not find a straight answer at SS site, Say husband started collecting at FRA and I started collecting spousal at 64 and then say he dies a few months later, do I automatically get bumped to survivor benefits or can I continue the spousal, even though his checks stop with death, until I reach 66?
All I can find says a widow can begin receiving benefits as early as 60, reduced, or 50 if she is diabled, which I am, but not "officially", and it says that benefit will be reduced if she claims it before FRA but no where does it say what happens if you are already collecting a spousal benefit. Now I know the spousal benefit is reduced for life and the survivor benefit is not if you wait till FRA to claim it, but are you given that choice if you are already collecting something when the spouse dies?
OR will the spousal stop altogether until you claim the survivor benefit?
One of the problems is that all the articles and even the SS website, tend to both spouses having worked and one making less, very little in scenarios where the wife did not work at all.
At his death, the wage earner no longer has a spouse. However, the wage earner does have a survivor. Thus, your spousal benefits will end and you may apply for survivor's benefits based on his record, if you so choose.
but it is all file and suspend here. as long as you do a file and suspend you can claim past benefits you suspended as a lump sum .
that is just a side benefit with file and suspend.
According to this, if someone is using the F&S strategy to increase the bnefit, you better be paying your Medicare Part B premium directly to SS, or you get NO benefit as far as Delayed Retirement Credit:
Quote:
29. If you choose to file and suspend in order to enable your spouse to collect a spousal benefit on your earnings record while you delay taking your benefit in order to collect a higher one later, make sure you pay your Medicare Part B premiums out of your own pocket (i.e., you need to send Social Security a check each month). If you don’t, Social Security will pay it for you and treat you as waving (i.e., not suspending) your benefit apart from the premium and, get this, you won’t get the Delayed Retirement Credit applied to your benefit. In other words, if you don’t pay the Part B premiums directly, your benefit when you ask for it in the future will be NO LARGER than when you suspended its receipt. This is a really nasty Gotcha, which I just learned, by accident, from one of Social Security’s top actuaries.
According to this, if someone is using the F&S strategy to increase the benefit, you better be paying your Medicare Part B premium directly to SS, or you get NO benefit as far as Delayed Retirement Credit:
That's the one I observation that I was unaware of. I think it's worth confirming since it carries huge implications for those counting on those additional credits.
At his death, the wage earner no longer has a spouse. However, the wage earner does have a survivor. Thus, your spousal benefits will end and you may apply for survivor's benefits based on his record, if you so choose.
On the SS website I finally found that it says that if you are collecting benefits at the time your spouse dies they automatically switch to survivor benefits. Which is what I was concerned about because that would mean you are going to receive less than you would if you filed for the survivor benefit at FRA.
Now in my case it probably won't matter because there are only two years between when I am going to file for spousal, [age 64] and when I would reach FRA [age 66] so unless spouse dies in that two years than this point would not be relevant to me. But with his health who knows,
However with that considered, I would still probably be better off taking the payments with the small reduction those two years [I realize reduction would be permanent] than to not take two years or whatever worth of payments, just to get a bit more each month.
I imagine that was clear as mud.
Oh and there is a big WARNING on the SS site pages about File and Suspend and being sure you DO pay the Medicare Part by check each month and on time or you lose the extra credits.
Lenora, you may be best able to handle this question.
There are a lot of thoughts in this thread and they can be overlapping and confusing to someone. Isn't file and suspend at age 66 so your eligible spouse can begin collecting benefits based on your SS? If your spouse has a benefit 50% or more higher than yours or you are single and no one is going to claim spousal benefits you really don't need to do anything until you are ready to receive benefits at 67-70.
Lenora, you may be best able to handle this question.
There are a lot of thoughts in this thread and they can be overlapping and confusing to someone. Isn't file and suspend at age 66 so your eligible spouse can begin collecting benefits based on your SS? If your spouse has a benefit 50% or more higher than yours or you are single and no one is going to claim spousal benefits you really don't need to do anything until you are ready to receive benefits at 67-70.
The point is one file and suspend type strategy [whatever it is called] has this retroactive part that allows the primary earner to file at FRA [also allowing spouse to file for spousal benefits] but then if you find you are not going to make it to 70 because of health or if you suddenly need a large sum of money for something, allows the primary earner to go back to SS and tell them they want to collect now and all the retroactive payments from the time they because eligible and filed.
I believe that one is called claim and suspend, and I can't find anything to say for sure wether it is the same as file and suspend. I do know if you claim those back payments they are based on amount at FRA with no delayed credit or interst.
PLEASE REMEMBER IN MY CASE I HAVE NO CREDITS OF MY OWN, ONLY SPOUSAL. That does make a difference in some of these strategies out there.
funny thing is that originally the spousal benefit was put into SS just for people like me, the Stay at home mom. Now all working people use it too, which is fine but THEY are the ones saying people like me should not recieve it.
There are not as many stay at home moms now but they are still out there.
My situation was such that I could not work early on and later I was to ill to work, and since I had NOT worked earlier I also did not qualify for any kind of disability help either. So Spousal benefit once I am old enough, actually hope to wait to at least 64, will be all I will be getting.
The point is one file and suspend type strategy [whatever it is called] has this retroactive part that allows the primary earner to file at FRA [also allowing spouse to file for spousal benefits] but then if you find you are not going to make it to 70 because of health or if you suddenly need a large sum of money for something, allows the primary earner to go back to SS and tell them they want to collect now and all the retroactive payments from the time they because eligible and filed.
I believe that one is called claim and suspend, and I can't find anything to say for sure wether it is the same as file and suspend. I do know if you claim those back payments they are based on amount at FRA with no delayed credit or interst.
PLEASE REMEMBER IN MY CASE I HAVE NO CREDITS OF MY OWN, ONLY SPOUSAL. That does make a difference in some of these strategies out there.
funny thing is that originally the spousal benefit was put into SS just for people like me, the Stay at home mom. Now all working people use it too, which is fine but THEY are the ones saying people like me should not recieve it.
There are not as many stay at home moms now but they are still out there.
My situation was such that I could not work early on and later I was to ill to work, and since I had NOT worked earlier I also did not qualify for any kind of disability help either. So Spousal benefit once I am old enough, actually hope to wait to at least 64, will be all I will be getting.
Would not your husband at age 66 file and suspend his benefit making it possible for you to file for spousal benefits if age eligible. At a point later your husband would file for his benefits and receive the benefit entitled at that age. It will go up each year from age 66-70. You will continue on spousal unless he passes before you at which point you would switch over to survivor benefits.
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