At 66 bank the SS$ and work vs waiting until 70

[mathjak107]

false.

you can only stop the ss at fra and let it grow from fra to 70 . maybe you misunderstood what they were saying . other wise you only have the first 12 months if you filed early to cancel it , pay it back and get a do over later .

once you file pre fra it is a done deal .

[lenora]

Originally Posted by Perryinva

I think Mathjak misunderstood arwenmark. I read it as She has NO SS benefit of her own earning. Her spousal is $1020 and I Think she may be wondering why its not $1250. It's not $1250 because she would have to have filed at HER FRA of 66 in order to get $1250. She has 15% deducted for early filing. (Though, of course the actual percentage is based on months, not years, but roughly) so .85 x 1/2x $2500 = $1062...close to her $1020 number. If he dies first, then she gets $2124/mo.

At her full retirement age, she would receive the full survivor benefit without the 15% penalty. Spousal and Survivor benefits are unrelated.

[mathjak107]

Keep survivor benefits out of this . That will just confuse things

[lenora]

If the spouse has no earnings then there is nothing to add onto. The base is the wage earner's FRA (aka PIA) benefit divided by two. If the spouse, Arwenmark, claims early, then the early claim penalty is applied to the 1/2 she would have drawn if she waited until FRA.

Here's an example: I have an earnings record. On my record alone, it looks like my benefit would be less than 1/2 of my husband's FRA benefit. It doesn't matter if he retires before he reaches his FRA. I am still entitled to 1) the benefit on my record and 2) enough of my husband's benefit to bring mine up to 1/2 of his.

But wait, what if I did not have an earnings record? Then I would be entitled to 1/2 of his benefit. Note that I end up with the same amount regardless of whether there was an "add on" as in my first example, or no "add on" as in the second example.

Arwenmark is the second example.

Next step: She could have 1) claimed the spousal share (1/2) at HER FRA. or 2) claimed the spousal share before she reached the FRA. Arwenmark chose # 2. Thus, she will receive an amount equal to 1/2 of Husband's FRA benefit MINUS the penalty for claiming several years early.

In this case, I'm not sure if Arwenmark is saying her H is entitled to $2500 NOW or whether he would be entitled to $2500 if he had waited to claim at his FRA. The figure we need to work from is the amount her husband would have received at HIS retirement age, the "PIA" (even though he claimed early). If we had Husband's PIA and knew exactly the number of months Arwenmark claimed before HER FRA, we could calculate the correct amount down to the penny.

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/quickcalc/s...tml#calculator

[Perryinva]

Even though it may confuse things, lenora is correct. Survivors benefit is whatever the higher receiving spouse was getting. I was incorrect. In her example, she would get $2500.

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by Perryinva

Even though it may confuse things, lenora is correct. Survivors benefit is whatever the higher receiving spouse was getting. I was incorrect. In her example, she would get $2500.

not always .

survivor benefits have theree factors going . i will say husband but it can be the reverse too .wouldn't want to be politically incorrect .

first parameter is what the husband got , 2nd is at what age survivor benefits are applied for AND 3rd is THE MULIPLIERS SOCIAL SECURITY PUT IN PLACE AS A SAFETY NET . .

in a case where the husband filed early and died and the wife filed early there is a double cut in benefits . if the wife was 60 when she took survivor benefits and the husband took ss at 62 the double cuts could see 1/2 that check gone .
so a floor was put in place by ss as a safety net .

to prevent to steep a cut there is a safety net in place . the survivor gets either the double cut benefit if they file younger than their fra or as a safety net they take the husbands full regardless of when he filed and put a mulitplier on it .

so if the husband filed early and the widow filed at 60 she would get either the double cut benefit or the husbands full x.71 , which ever is higher . in this case the muliplier off full gives a much higher benefit .

at age 62 it would be the husbands full x.81 or the double cut benefit , which ever is higher . there is a chart that shows you the safety net multiplier on line .