Quote:
Originally Posted by bluestocking12
We rent in a very affluent New England town. By our SS calculations, allowing for me taking retirement now (500.) and dh taking his at 70 ($4000.), we will be receiving between 4500 - 5000/month. (That upper number assuming that my amount will go up to a percentage of his benefit.)
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You need to have a sit-down with Social Security. That means, go to the office and sit down.
There's been a change in the Social Security law that affects you.
You are no longer allowed to choose your benefits.
You are not allowed to apply for only spousal benefits, just as you're not allowed to apply for your own benefits.
When you apply, you are applying for both spousal and your own benefit, whether you want to or not, whether you like it or not and whatever else.
Social Security will always pay you the greater of your spousal benefit and your own benefit, and that's what you'll get for the rest of your life, notwithstanding Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA).
However, you are not eligible for spousal benefits, because you spouse isn't receiving benefits and won't be for another 7 years.
At present, the only benefit you're eligible to receive is your own.
A plain language reading of the law says that when your spouse does apply, you are then eligible for spousal benefits, and you may apply for spousal benefits, and Social Security will then pay you the greater of the spousal benefit or your current benefit.
Some people disagree with that assessment. They say once you get your own, you're locked in forever.
So, you need to go
in-person to Social Security and sit-down
in-person with a representative and have them explain to you
in-person exactly what will happen.
When you go in-person and apply, they're going to tell you aren't eligible for spousal benefits, at which time you need to jump up on the desk and ask,
"Am I going to be able to apply for spousal benefits when he turns 70?"
Because, if the answer is "No" then you might want to rethink this. You might want to delay a few more years at least until you have 65 years and can get an higher benefit amount.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluestocking12
It will be possible to move further into the country, say, Vermont, and rent a cottage for about $1200. That would also be about the cost to stay here and live in elderly, public housing.
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I think you're wrong about that. Even with the utility allowance and two personal exemptions, I think it's going to run you about $1,350 or so a month.
The personal exemptions aren't the same as the IRS tax exemptions. These exemptions vary by State, and I'm guessing for Vermont they'd be about $85 to $95 per person per month, so for the two of you it'd be $170/month to $190/month.
You can always call a public housing operator and calculate it for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluestocking12
Could you do live on about $3300/month, after housing costs? What would you do to get ready?
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The question is silly. The Cost-of-Living in the US is so disparate there are people making $1,800/month who actually make twice what you make.
That means they live exactly like you do, and they still have a helluva lot more money to spend than you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by luzianne
Would you qualify for disability? You might look into that.
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That's not always a good strategy.
A guy with one leg amputated below the knee and his foot amputated for diabetes was denied.
Yeah. His social worker drove him to his appointment with Social Security and the hearing officer is staring at him in a wheel-chair with one leg and that leg doesn't even have a foot on it, and he was denied.
Got approved on appeal, but a claim can wend its way through the system for years and she might not even win.
Quote:
Originally Posted by luzianne
Other than that, I don't think it should be too hard to live on $3300 a month.
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All depends on where you live. Here, I can live like a king on $3,300. In Romania I could live like an emperor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Travelassie
I'm just wondering what kind of subsidies a couple with a monthly income between $ 4500 and $5000/monthly would qualify for.
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HUD Section 8.
A retiree receiving a Social Security benefit of $2,788/month, plus a pension of $1,878/month, for a total of $4,666/month qualifies for HUD Section 8 housing in some areas of the US.
At the same time, there are people in the US whose monthly Social Security benefits is $1,401/month and that's just too much money to qualify for HUD Section 8.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Travelassie
I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that an income like that makes anyone "poor".
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In the United States, there are places where $6.92/hour = $26.92/hour.
That's right.
If I blind-folded you and took you to their homes, it would be totally impossible for you to tell which one earns $6.92/hour and which one earns $26/hour.
Their homes are the same, same number, make, model and year of cars -- the colors would be different of course -- same clothing labels, same shoes, same furniture and appliances, same everything.
In some places in the US, $1 really does equal $1, but in other places $1=$0.25 and in some $1=$3 or $1=$12.
It all depends entirely on where you live in the US.
You need to travel more.
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. You would also need savings for emergency repairs and such.
