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I haven't read through this entire thread, so this issue may have been addressed.
I thought there was a maximum family benefit, regardless of how its divided up. Say, for example, a man a man gets $2000/month, so, his wife gets $1000/month based on his benefit. Then, lets say they have 4 disabled children, each of which get 1/2 of their father's benefit, so, that's another $4000 total for the children. Ok, so we now have $2000 + 1000 + 1000 + 1000+ 1000 + 1000 = $7000
Not quite. There is a maximum family benefit, regardless of how its sliced up. so, say the maximum family benefit is $3000. That means everyone's benefit is adjusted to that benefit.
Spousal benefits are an integral part of the SS system and I am surprised that people don't know about them - or even consider not taking them! The only reason not to take a spousal benefit is if one's own earned benefit is larger.
While I do not generally ascribe benign motives to the government, I do think that the SSA expects people to take the maximum benefit to which they're legally entitled.
Spousal benefits are an integral part of the SS system and I am surprised that people don't know about them - or even consider not taking them! The only reason not to take a spousal benefit is if one's own earned benefit is larger.
While I do not generally ascribe benign motives to the government, I do think that the SSA expects people to take the maximum benefit to which they're legally entitled.
I made a phone inquiry about to SS a month or two ago. Got a verrrry good rep on the phone and had a good conversation with him. I got the impression that the current mind set at SS is not to facilitate some of the more advanced benefit options that tend to be used by higher income sorts as some would claim.
55 yrs old and widow. Relocating and loosing my job. Will not be working. Can i collect widows benifits?
From the SSA publication:
Quote:
Reduced widow or widower benefits can be
received as early as age 60.
unless disabled
Quote:
Further info:
Benefits paid to a surviving divorced spouse who
meets the age or disability requirement as a widow or
widower won’t affect the benefit rates for other survivors
getting benefits on the worker’s record.
Maximum family benefits
There is a limit to the benefits that can be paid to
you and other family members each month. The limit
varies, but is generally between 150 and 180 percent of the
deceased’s benefit amount.
It is better than waiting with no spousal benefit but you are still gambling on your life expectancy to delay taking your SS.
Take the example in the article.
Husband 66 turns down the $2533pm to let it grow to $3334pm at age 70. He takes the $1000pm spousal benefit. So he missed out on $2533x12monthsx4yrs = $121,584 in income over the 4 years but got $48,000 in spousal. A net loss of income of $73,584 over the 4 years he waited to draw his own. Plus this amount could be invested and earn interest. Is an extra $801 a month worth this loss of income? Or $9612 a year? He would probably break even at around 80 years old which is several years above the average life expectancy for men. Assuming no adverse tax effects here.
Personally at 70 years old I'd take $73,584 over an extra $9,612 a year. Especially with a couple getting $4500 in SS a month!! But that is just me. Its good there are choices.
there are so many reasons for taking it early as well as delaying and each situation can get very complex.
tax planning ,rmds , opportunity costs , medicare surcharges , etc all have to be considered.
but most important is will your spouse be able to live on a reduced benefit that may even get slashed a 2nd time if they have to file early for survivor benefits .
it can leave a spouse in a real bad position losing one ss check and losing 48% of what the full benefit would have been.
a spouse who has to take survivor benefits at 60 where the other spouse filed at 62 for benefits before they died can see a whopping 48% reduction in benefits from what a fra survivor benefit would have been.
it would take way to much typing to list the pro's and cons of each side.
as for me , i plan on waiting to file at fra although i am retiring at 62.
but if we have a market downturn which is a possibility at this stage and it is severe i will take ss earlier rather than burn though excessive amounts of our portfolio once the cash portion is gone.
And if you are divorced and haven't remarried, you can get half or all of your ex-spouses benefit.
with no impact to the ex-spouse, if I have my info correct
think you had to have been married more than 10 yrs to qualify
My understanding is that, if the ex-spouse is still living, the most you can get is half of the ex-spouse's benefit. If the ex-spouse is deceased, you can receive all of the ex-spouse's benefit.
Yes, you must have been married more than 10 years to qualify.
The interesting thing is that, even if the ex-spouse married multiple times, every one of the exes is entitled to collect benefits based on the ex-spouse's record, as long as the marriages were longer than 10 years.
So if a person dies leaving 2, 3, 4 or more ex-spouses, they can all qualify to collect all of their ex-spouse's benefit.
whether you actually get 1/2 is dependent on the age you file either for spousal or survivor.
best case scenario is you get 1/2 the full retirement age ss payment of the spouse if you wait until your own fra . you get 1/2 what the spouse was getting as survivor benefits if you file at your own fra. if the spouse filed early and you file early there is a double cut in survivor benefits.
both cases see reductions if you are under fra when you file.
whether you actually get 1/2 is dependent on the age you file either for spousal or survivor.
best case scenario is you get 1/2 the full retirement age ss payment of the spouse if you wait until your own fra . you get 1/2 what the spouse was getting as survivor benefits if you file at your own fra. if the spouse filed early and you file early there is a double cut in survivor benefits.
both cases see reductions if you are under fra when you file.
My understanding is that, if you file at your own FRA and your ex-spouse (or spouse) is deceased, you get 100% of what the ex-spouse (or spouse) was getting (or would have gotten had he/she lived).
If you are at or above full retirement age and unmarried, you will receive 100% of your deceased ex-spouse's SSDI benefit. That's the current rule. It could change, of course.
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