Social Security Survivor Benefits? (mother, financial)
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don't be ridonkulous...fully trust... 15$ hr employees... read scripts know everything... forget metrics and trying to get rid of me for next call... they worry about me and thee... source material... meh.
I'll stop now. I posted, in an admittedly negative fashion, which I try never to do, because it is astonishing to me that some of us would rather trust/persist seemingly blindly in a bureaucracy, rather than what our own eyes can tell us, if we look for the facts ourselves, and then perhaps mislead others-- however innocently.
Moderator, please remove this post if it is deemed offensive. I apologize, and am also grateful for the posters that persisted in trying to arrive at the truth of the matter so as to inform others. I have an acquaintance that was informed wrongly in these matters and is now suffering the consequences...
The scripted low level workers at ss are hit and miss as far as what they can help you with …it is always better just to take the time to actually learn yourself …it isn’t hard as correct information is everywhere today on line.
Just make sure what you go by is up to date as a lot of rules were changed and no longer apply …..the old link posted by two people here has older information about deeming in it which no longer applies to survivor but it does apply to spousal.
It always amazes me how little interest in learning many people take in some of the biggest decisions of their lives …they will spend more time researching a refrigerator, car or restaurant then they do concerning the important financial aspects of their lives .
Yet the sad fact is the less you have the more you need to know to get things right …
No one cares as much as you do about whether things are right or not , so totally counting on others can be a mistake .
You need to know enough to evaluate what they tell you
Last edited by mathjak107; 01-10-2022 at 04:05 AM..
The scripted low level workers at ss are hit and miss as far as what they can help you with …it is always better just to take the time to actually learn yourself …it isn’t hard as correct information is everywhere today on line.
Just make sure what you go by is up to date as a lot of rules were changed and no longer apply …..the old link posted by two people here has older information about deeming in it which no longer applies to survivor but it does apply to spousal.
It always amazes me how little interest in learning many people take in some of the biggest decisions of their lives …they will spend more time researching a refrigerator, car or restaurant then they do concerning the important financial aspects of their lives .
Yet the sad fact is the less you have the more you need to know to get things right …
No one cares as much as you do about whether things are right or not as you do , so totally counting on others can be a mistake .
You need to know enough to evaluate what they tell you
Article: Don't let Social Security Steer You Wrong -->
In defense of the bureaucracy they are not run like a business; they are starved for resources most years. The go long periods due to the budget/Congress where there is no hiring (so, you will see very significant amounts of time with huge gaps in the experience of the workforce). The most experienced employees have been retiring en masse leaving Newer employees to train New employees. The government agencies are, in a way, set up to fail.
You better print out the rules and take them with you to your appointment. And, like the article said go through the painful process of having mistakes corrected if you have to.
The nice simple chart i posted above pretty much covers the major issues and changes and tells you what still applies and what doesn’t .
While there are a few more options like stop start , cancelling ss the first year , and getting 6 months lump sum , for the most part the chart shows the differences between spousal , survivor and ex spouse benefits
The nice simple chart i posted above pretty much covers the major issues and changes and tells you what still applies and what doesn’t .
While there are a few more options like stop start , cancelling ss the first year , and getting 6 months lump sum , for the most part the chart shows the differences between spousal , survivor and ex spouse benefits
I heard they will automatically give you the 6 month lump sum unless you tell them not to do that.
Yeah, that link to that booklet you provided is excellent. A lot of times it is better to look for a financial paper written about SS or taxes (because it is written more understandably). Of course you have to validate the data (on the SS website) to know how well written it is... ...because it could be someone's bad interpretation...
Do you have a source for finding out if your Ex is dead or alive if you are no longer in contact with them? I mean besides Google.
Last edited by Wile E. Coyote; 01-10-2022 at 04:24 AM..
I heard they will automatically give you the 6 month lump sum unless you tell them not to do that.
Yeah, that link to that booklet you provided is excellent. A lot of times it is better to look for a financial paper written about SS or taxes (because it is written more understandably). Of course you have to validate the data to know how well written it is... ...because it could be someone's bad interpretation...
I have not seen that happen with the lump sum at all …they may present it as an option but it is not normally done .
when you file there is no place on the application to even apply for it. Most apply on line today and there is no option for lump sum
You know I didn't even know about all of this, before a debate on c-d and the posters called it to my attention. And that was the page I pulled up so as to verify what they told me to be true.
"Can you work and receive a spouse's survivors benefits based on your deceased spouse's SSDI disability benefits? The simple answer to this question is: It depends.
<snip>
How much can I earn working without it affecting my survivors benefits?
How much you can work without your survivor benefits being reduced depends on your age. If you have reached full retirement age, there is no annual limit on the amount of money you can earn from working.
If you are not going to reach full retirement age within the year, you can only earn up to $18,960 (in 2021) before it starts to affect your survivors benefits."
That that I put in bold, must be where I fall; could be why she said no when I asked the earnings limit question --- you know they keep changing the age and year born. I've known for several years that I could retire as their statements told me I could. But I also know the amount wasn't worth it. Because for 14 years of my life I was a stay at home wife and mom. Funny too that I thought it was 12.5 years; it was the ssa agent that did the math and said so you were married for 14 years ...
You are not a ssa agent and neither am I. All I can post is what they told me. What they put on their website are guidelines ... No one is going to know for sure what their situation qualifies them for in the way of benefits until they meet with an agent of the ssa.
The colossal I would fall into is if I file for disability then that would kick it to my earnings not my spouses and that changes everything, according to the ssa agent I spoke with on the phone. Okay, that's it I'm done ...
Just to be clear --- please people call your local ssa office rather than go by anything posted on c-d, because we do not know what your situation is --- but the ssa does; they know all there is to know about you and they can help you with your decisions.
Can I ask if you are 67 or not? From what you've said, it sounds like you are which would make sense why working isn't affecting the benefits you're collecting.
I'm just asking for clarity to help myself and others to understand all you have said. Hopefully you are 67, otherwise you may want to prepare yourself to have to repay what they've given you which is something I'm terrified of and why I like to follow threads like this so that I understand if I find myself in that situation. My hub is 8 years older than me, which is why I'm interested to know SS survivors benefits.
While Mathjak may not work for SS, I and others will tell you that he really does know his stuff when it comes to SS. He knows things such as specific dates things stopped being in effect with new rules starting. It is because of him and a few others here that myself and others know what we do about SS. He is always so giving of his time to set everyone straight, even when questions have been asked a hundred or more times. Most posters would just pass the threads by, but not him, he seems to check to make sure the OP got the right answer.
I'm not kidding about some questions being posted a hundred or more times. Similar for this thread, I've seen it many, many times.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107
No one was talking about disability ….you were talking about survivor benefits not having a cap pre fra and not being effected by being fra. , your words and that is flat out wrong.
It was stated all along there is no earnings cap if you are passed fra so either you have a reading comprehension problem or you are not reading what is posted.
The argument here is full retirement age definitely has a bearing on survivor benefits because if you are under fra the earnings cap kicks in .
If you are telling us YOU ARE FULL RETIREMENT So there is no earnings cap that is not what you wrote and that is what we said to you all along ..
AT NO POINT DID YOU SAY YOU WERE FRA
I agree. It would have been helpful had she originally said that.
Thanks for all of your SS contributions. It's always appreciated. You and a few others.
Can I ask if you are 67 or not? From what you've said, it sounds like you are which would make sense why working isn't affecting the benefits you're collecting.
I'm just asking for clarity to help myself and others to understand all you have said. Hopefully you are 67, otherwise you may want to prepare yourself to have to repay what they've given you which is something I'm terrified of and why I like to follow threads like this so that I understand if I find myself in that situation. My hub is 8 years older than me, which is why I'm interested to know SS survivors benefits.
While Mathjak may not work for SS, I and others will tell you that he really does know his stuff when it comes to SS. He knows things such as specific dates things stopped being in effect with new rules starting. It is because of him and a few others here that myself and others know what we do about SS. He is always so giving of his time to set everyone straight, even when questions have been asked a hundred or more times. Most posters would just pass the threads by, but not him, he seems to check to make sure the OP got the right answer.
I'm not kidding about some questions being posted a hundred or more times. Similar for this thread, I've seen it many, many times.
I agree. It would have been helpful had she originally said that.
Thanks for all of your SS contributions. It's always appreciated. You and a few others.
You are very welcome.
One thing that wasn’t clear to me when I first filed about working was that ss always talks in terms of a monthly limit under fra …
They would send me a questionnaire yearly to estimate my work and they would have me check off the monthly boxes I made over the monthly limit .
There was no asking for an amount made which surprised me …all it said was check the boxes you made more then the monthly cap .
It seemed a little crazy to me to talk in term of monthly caps and not yearly totals .
Out of 6 months I had checked off 3 months slightly over and 3 months under …
So I wasn’t sure if they were going to take the money back for the three months over ….
Actually they didn’t go by monthly at the end of the day , they evidently just prorate the yearly total and know how much you made ..
So if I had 6 months left to go to fra and 3 months were over and 3 months were under , as long as the yearly cap prorated for six months was under I was good to go
Last edited by mathjak107; 01-10-2022 at 04:52 AM..
I had no idea that was going to be nine pages; I was thinking one page.
It is quite lengthy but as you see there in no lump sum option…if I remember I think the on line questionnaire was shorter than the printed one but I can’t remember that far back to be sure
I do know it was pretty straight forward and easy on line and went quickly
One thing that wasn’t clear to me when I first filed about working was that ss always talks in terms of a monthly limit under fra …
They would send me a questionnaire yearly to estimate my work and they would have me check off the monthly boxes I made over the monthly limit .
There was no asking for an amount made which surprised me …all it said was check the boxes you made more then the monthly cap .
It seemed a little crazy to me to talk in term of monthly caps and not yearly totals .
Out of 6 months I had checked off 3 months slightly over and 3 months under …
So I wasn’t sure if they were going to take the money back for the three months over ….
Actually they didn’t go by monthly at the end of the day , they evidently just prorate the yearly total and know how much you made ..
So if I had 6 months left to go to fra and 3 months were over and 3 months were under , as long as the yearly cap prorated for six months was under I was good to go
Thanks, that's good to know because if you weren't sure then it must be confusing to someone like me. I wouldn't even think to find a financial planner to help me which I know now from one article shared.
I'm not good with reading things like SS rules. It's so much easier to read here when you or someone else explains it.
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