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Old 02-07-2015, 07:04 AM
 
807 posts, read 1,167,568 times
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Do I understand this correctly? Husband is 62, I am 60. Being that he was the main breadwinner his check will be substantially greater than mine. When he turns FRA, 66 I will be 63.5. I will file for my own SS at the reduced rate. He will file for spousal benefits. His will continue to grow. When he turns 70 he will file for his own.

Question, at what point do I file under his SS? When he does at age 70? And instead of 1/2 of his won't it be less because I took mine out early? And can he file for these spousal benefits if I am not FRA when I take mine out? Thank you in advance for clarifications and any other info you can bestow on me!
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Old 02-07-2015, 08:25 AM
 
105,802 posts, read 107,776,949 times
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boy if only that was how it worked.


you have alot of wrong assumptions:


you can't file for half his ever if you file before your own fra .

you ALWAYS only get your own as a choice once you file early. you can never claim a spousal benefit except at your own fra by waiting if you have your own earnings record.

your own stays with you for life unless you go to survivor benefits , a different issue..

so what do you get ?

what you get because you filed early is when he files at fra you get a little boost to your own amount..


so at 63.5 years old you get your reduced benefit.

lets say it is 800 a month. your full would be 1100 a month as a hypothetical guess if you had waited.

so the math goes like this:.


lets say your husbands full at fra is 2400 a month . so when he files they take 1/2 his full amount of 2400 or 1200 bucks and subtract your full amoun or 1100 bucks . that difference of 100 iis added to your early benefit.

so had you waited until your full you would have gotten 1/2 his full or 1200 dollars but because you filed early your step up when he files at fra is only to 900 bucks from 800 .


you have to work the numbers but the math stays the same. they subtract what your full would have been from 1/2 his full. that difference is added to your own which stays forever.


the big disadvantage of filing before fra is you lose the option of playing the spousal benefit game as you can later on since once you file early that benefit is aways your own.

Last edited by mathjak107; 02-07-2015 at 08:39 AM..
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Old 02-07-2015, 10:24 AM
 
807 posts, read 1,167,568 times
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Mathjak, once again, in clear English you have explained it to me. You are an amazing wealth of info and I so appreciate you sharing it.
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Old 02-07-2015, 10:38 AM
 
Location: Columbia SC
14,200 posts, read 14,567,911 times
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Once again Mathjak come through.

Similar question. My wife's SS is reduced do to WEPs (she retired from a state government). Her SS is less then 1/2 of mine. When I die, can she file for anything that would increase her amount of SS?

Thanks
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Old 02-07-2015, 02:57 PM
 
11,181 posts, read 10,475,861 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johngolf View Post
Similar question. My wife's SS is reduced do to WEPs (she retired from a state government). Her SS is less then 1/2 of mine. When I die, can she file for anything that would increase her amount of SS?
from http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf
Quote:
The Windfall Elimination Provision does not apply to survivors benefits. However, benefits may be reduced for widows or widowers because of another provision of the law. Ask for Government Pension Offset (Publication No. 05-10007).
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Old 02-07-2015, 03:09 PM
 
105,802 posts, read 107,776,949 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saralvr View Post
Mathjak, once again, in clear English you have explained it to me. You are an amazing wealth of info and I so appreciate you sharing it.
you are very welcome.
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