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I have been reading all the posts on spousal SS benefits. I think I understand it, but have a question.
If I am 2.5 yrs younger than my spouse and he will get about double what I would get if we both reach FRA. So, if I take early beneftis (say, age 63.5 and he is FRA 66). He can file for spousal benefits whether or not he is still working and put off filing his own. Then at age 70 he files his own and receives his highest amt. Question: what about me?? Do I always collect my lower amt? Or half of his when he reaches 70? Or half of what his would be when I turn 63.5 when I first file? That's where I am confused. Does he file and suspend at FRA and mine goes up?
Thanking you in advance for trying to help me understand.
I have been reading all the posts on spousal SS benefits. I think I understand it, but have a question.
If I am 2.5 yrs younger than my spouse and he will get about double what I would get if we both reach FRA. So, if I take early beneftis (say, age 63.5 and he is FRA 66). He can file for spousal benefits whether or not he is still working and put off filing his own. Then at age 70 he files his own and receives his highest amt. Question: what about me?? Do I always collect my lower amt? Or half of his when he reaches 70? Or half of what his would be when I turn 63.5 when I first file? That's where I am confused. Does he file and suspend at FRA and mine goes up?
Thanking you in advance for trying to help me understand.
You file early and you will get a reduced benefit of your own and reduced spousal. If he passes. After 70 you will get his full benefit as a survivor. My wife will never take spousal as her reduced benefit is greater than half my age 70 benefit. Doing what you are discussing should include some number crunching with different scenarios. Other considerations to influence you could be pensions, investments etc.
Thank you for the explanation. At FRA my benefit is the same as taking 1/2 of my husbands. I have crunched the numbers various ways. After your recent post stating that I can file and he can get half of mine while letting his grow to age 70 it sounded a bit confusing. We do not have pensions, but are saving and investing to ensure we won't run out of money. Most of the time FireCalc likes me!! It's a few times that it doesn't that concerns me!
Thank you for the explanation. At FRA my benefit is the same as taking 1/2 of my husbands. I have crunched the numbers various ways. After your recent post stating that I can file and he can get half of mine while letting his grow to age 70 it sounded a bit confusing. We do not have pensions, but are saving and investing to ensure we won't run out of money. Most of the time FireCalc likes me!! It's a few times that it doesn't that concerns me!
Your mere mention of FireCalc is music to a lot of folks ears. Best of luck and crunch away.
You file early and you will get a reduced benefit of your own and reduced spousal. If he passes. After 70 you will get his full benefit as a survivor. My wife will never take spousal as her reduced benefit is greater than half my age 70 benefit. Doing what you are discussing should include some number crunching with different scenarios. Other considerations to influence you could be pensions, investments etc.
She doesnt have to be 70 to get full survivor benefits, she just has to be full retirement age, probably 65 or 66.
I have been reading all the posts on spousal SS benefits. I think I understand it, but have a question.
If I am 2.5 yrs younger than my spouse and he will get about double what I would get if we both reach FRA. So, if I take early beneftis (say, age 63.5 and he is FRA 66). He can file for spousal benefits whether or not he is still working and put off filing his own. Then at age 70 he files his own and receives his highest amt. Question: what about me?? Do I always collect my lower amt? Or half of his when he reaches 70? Or half of what his would be when I turn 63.5 when I first file? That's where I am confused. Does he file and suspend at FRA and mine goes up?
Thanking you in advance for trying to help me understand.
If you take early benefits, your retirement benefit will be reduced for the remainder of your life. However, if you decide you would like to earn an additional 8% per year on the reduced benefit, you can suspend your benefits at age 66 and let your benefit grow.
If 50% of his PIA is equal to your PIA, I see no reason for your husband to "file and suspend".
Once you have filed for benefits, your husband can file a restricted application for spousal benefits when he reaches FRA and allow his benefits to grow (by earning delayed credits) until age 70. Note that HIS retirement benefit will grow after age 66, not YOURS. This is true even if you decide to wait and file for spousal benefits at age FRA. Thus, the maximum spousal benefit remains at 50% of the wage earners primary insurance amount (FRA amount) as no delayed credits are awarded. However, should your husband die, you will receive survivor's benefits that include the delayed credits.
Here's another link to help you understand: Kiplinger - Interstitial
(My mind is a little fuzzy this evening, so if I provided a link that has already been posted, I apologize.)
Note: If there is ANY chance a married couple might divorce, the lower earning spouse should NOT take reduced benefits.
Thank you for the explanation. At FRA my benefit is the same as taking 1/2 of my husbands. I have crunched the numbers various ways. After your recent post stating that I can file and he can get half of mine while letting his grow to age 70 it sounded a bit confusing. We do not have pensions, but are saving and investing to ensure we won't run out of money. Most of the time FireCalc likes me!! It's a few times that it doesn't that concerns me!
If Firecalc doesn't like you for a couple of individual lines, you should try something like Crowdsourced Financial Independence and Early Retirement Simulator/Calculator, which can model variable spending patterns instead of a fixed amount of spending. It runs just like Firecalc (same data), but has various other options to choose from.
For instance, if you're willing to cut back on expenses when the market drops during retirement (like a lot of folks do anyways, jusdt by nature), then you go to the "Basic Inputs" section, and choose from the "Adjust Spending" menu. If you choose "Variable Spending", you can set a floor and a ceiling for your spending (the lowest or highest you'd ever take out of your portfolio). This way, you can tell the simulator "Hey, if the market starts to tank, we'd be willing to cut back to $35,000 spending... but we'd like to go as high as $55,000 when the market is good".
This can give a more accurate picture of success, in my opinion. (Also, if you spend any amount of time on the site above, I suggest registering and logging in. It lets you save your complicated scenarios for later).
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