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WOW, first thank you all very much for all the responses. I just came here to check and see if I possibly had one, so I was surprised. If it helps (someone mentioned this) here is our information in dollars. Oh, and when I started taking it at 62 I had fully intended to pay it back at 66 and start collecting my FRA benefit. As you probably all know that option is no longer allowed. So here is where we are right now.
Me, 66, retired 2009, current benefit : $20,400
Wife 62, retired 2000 (health issues not on disability list). Her benefits at.....
age 62: $10,752
FRA....66: $14,268
age 70: $18,288
Since I made the mistake of drawing at 62, and my plan mentioned above fell through, I'm now trying to do whatever I need to so that when I die, she will get the most from our benefits. To possibly make it worse I have no idea of spousal benefits and who and how they apply to those eligible. I'm going to read all the previous posts now and see if I can understand some of the very detailed and much appreciated responses. Can anyone give an opinion on how helpful and honest the people at the SS offices are? The one we had here closed, but I could go to another city.
Thanks again, Bill
P.S. Didn't there used to be a way of being notified by EMAIL when a response was posted?
unless the spouse has no work history usually the way it works best financially is :
lower earning spouse files early on their own record. at fra higher earning spouse files for 1/2 fra of spouse that was collecting while letting their own grow to 70.
file and suspend usually works best for those with no work history of their own or very very low earnings record
WOW, first thank you all very much for all the responses. I just came here to check and see if I possibly had one, so I was surprised. If it helps (someone mentioned this) here is our information in dollars. Oh, and when I started taking it at 62 I had fully intended to pay it back at 66 and start collecting my FRA benefit. As you probably all know that option is no longer allowed. So here is where we are right now.
Me, 66, retired 2009, current benefit : $20,400
Wife 62, retired 2000 (health issues not on disability list). Her benefits at.....
age 62: $10,752
FRA....66: $14,268
age 70: $18,288
Since I made the mistake of drawing at 62, and my plan mentioned above fell through, I'm now trying to do whatever I need to so that when I die, she will get the most from our benefits. To possibly make it worse I have no idea of spousal benefits and who and how they apply to those eligible. I'm going to read all the previous posts now and see if I can understand some of the very detailed and much appreciated responses. Can anyone give an opinion on how helpful and honest the people at the SS offices are? The one we had here closed, but I could go to another city.
Thanks again, Bill
P.S. Didn't there used to be a way of being notified by EMAIL when a response was posted?
Bill,
Do you rely on YOUR benefit to meet your current living expenses? This is key information.
If you can get by without your benefit, SUSPEND the benefit NOW. Your benefit will then accrue the monthly "delayed credits" equivalent to 8% per year until you reach age 70. Although the spousal benefit will not receive the additional delayed credits, the SURVIVOR benefit will increase. That is the ONLY way to further increase your wife's monthly stream of income via Social Security after your death.
We can only address whether your wife should take the reduced benefit at age 62 vs FRA when you tell us whether you will need her retirement check to replace your suspended benefit.
As you probably are aware, your wife is no longer eligible to apply for disability benefits (which would have frozen her earnings), so I will not address this in my reply. That ship has sailed...
Very lucky.
The person we talked to (appointment) said all our problems were caused by filing online.
Turned out he was oh so wrong
Might be why we had a follow up call. I had the impression that because I was taking spousal and delaying my own til 70 was something that got the call. He knew what we wanted to do and said very few are willing to delay til 70.
unless the spouse has no work history usually the way it works best financially is :
lower earning spouse files early on their own record. at fra higher earning spouse files for 1/2 fra of spouse that was collecting while letting their own grow to 70.
file and suspend usually works best for those with no work history of their own or very very low earnings record
As I understand it, you can only collect from a spouses record if your benefit is less than theirs when you apply.
As I understand it, you can only collect from a spouses record if your benefit is less than theirs when you apply.
The ratio of the couples benefits to each other can create different scenarios. I believe MathJaks wife has a benefit that is less than half his. My wife has a benefit that is over half of mine. She will always collect on her benefit unless I pass then she will collect survivor on mine. It really helped that we were the same age.
As I understand it, you can only collect from a spouses record if your benefit is less than theirs when you apply.
if you are fra i believe you can take a spousal benefit and delay your own regardless of the fact yours may be more than 1/2 your spouses if you were to file for your own.
i don't think that comes into play when delaying to 70. perhaps someone can confirm that.
Re-reading the spousal rules again it still appears that if you claim spousal benefits after fra and want to let yours grow who has the higher amount does not matter.
It seems only if you file for spousal benefits prior to fra does it matter who's is higher.
So husband files at 66 and wife is 62. She will get her own benefit and any excess added in if the husbands 1/2 is higher than her own.
If hers is higher she gets nothing.
But her husband at fra if i am reading correctly can file for 1/2 her fra without being deemed filing for his own while leaving it to grow to 70.
if you are fra i believe you can take a spousal benefit and delay your own regardless of the fact yours may be more than 1/2 your spouses if you were to file for your own.
i don't think that comes into play when delaying to 70. perhaps someone can confirm that.
Re-reading the spousal rules again it still appears that if you claim spousal benefits after fra and want to let yours grow who has the higher amount does not matter.
It seems only if you file for spousal benefits prior to fra does it matter who's is higher.
So husband files at 66 and wife is 62. She will get her own benefit and any excess added in if the husbands 1/2 is higher than her own.
If hers is higher she gets nothing.
But her husband at fra if i am reading correctly can file for 1/2 her fra without being deemed filing for his own while leaving it to grow to 70.
My friend that is why you previously started a thread on using software to help you figure it out. Ours was as simple as it gets, same age and born the same month. Her benefit in excess of 50 percent of mine. Same way with pension spousal survivor option.
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