Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

Social Security

Q&A: Social Security and the tax torpedo

By

Dear Liz: People are typically advised to wait as long as possible (full retirement age or later) to take Social Security to maximize the benefit. If a couple has low expenses and substantial pensions, wouldn’t it make sense to take Social Security earlier, to preserve retirement funds to pass on to their heirs? Social Security payments stop upon death, whereas retirement accounts are passed on to heirs.

Answer: If your primary concern is preserving an inheritance, maximizing your Social Security payments could help you reduce how much you have to withdraw from retirement funds in the long run.

Starting early also could make you more susceptible to what’s known as the tax torpedo, which is a sharp increase in marginal tax rates due to how Social Security is taxed when someone receives other income. People who only receive Social Security don’t face the torpedo, and higher-income people probably can’t avoid it, but middle-income people may be able to lessen the hit by delaying Social Security and drawing from their retirement funds instead.

One way to preserve assets for heirs is to convert traditional retirement accounts to Roth IRAs. This requires paying taxes on the conversions, but then you wouldn’t face required minimum distributions on the Roth accounts.

Calculating the best course can be difficult. You can pay $20 to $40 to use sophisticated claiming software such as Social Security Solutions or Maximize My Social Security to model various options, or consider consulting with a fee-only advisor.

Q&A: Pensions and Social Security benefits

By

Dear Liz: My situation is similar to the former teacher who wrote about a pension impacting Social Security benefits. I started Social Security at 62. My wife’s government pension is from a job that didn’t pay into Social Security. I’ll receive her pension if she should die before I do. If this occurs, how will my Social Security be impacted?

Answer: It won’t, because your situation is actually the reverse of the former teacher’s.

You paid a portion of each paycheck, currently 6.2%, into the Social Security system. The teacher (and your wife) did not, so their benefits are affected by rules designed to prevent people who didn’t pay into Social Security from getting more than those who did.

Q&A: Medicare and Social Security

By

Dear Liz: If my wife and I wait until we are 70 to collect Social Security but retired at our full retirement age of 66 and 2 months, would we still be able to get Medicare for those 3 years and 10 months before we reach 70?

Answer: You’re eligible for Medicare at age 65, which is typically when you should sign up. Delaying can incur penalties you’d have to pay for the rest of your life.

People receiving Social Security benefits at 65 are signed up automatically for Part A (hospital coverage) and Part B (which pays for doctor visits), with the Part B premiums deducted from their benefits. If you’re not already receiving Social Security, you’ll need to contact the Social Security office, which manages Medicare enrollment, to sign up and pay the Part B premiums.

Q&A: Why delaying Social Security is the smartest retirement play

By

Dear Liz: If someone delays applying for Social Security after their full retirement age, the common thought is that their benefit grows by 8% a year until the age of 70. It accrues by that much only if you continue to work, right? I was unceremoniously laid off during the pandemic and I am holding off as long as I can before applying. I will be 67 at the end of this month. But because I am not working, that 8% is not a reality, right?

Answer: Wrong. The 8% delayed retirement credits apply whether you’re working or not. Those credits will help you maximize the benefit you receive for the rest of your life and potentially the rest of your spouse’s life, if you are the higher earner in a marriage. This effect is so powerful that many financial planners recommend their clients tap other resources, such as retirement funds, if it allows them to put off claiming Social Security.

It may help to think of retiring as a separate event from claiming Social Security. Many people link the two, but you can work while claiming Social Security or retire but delay Social Security.

If you did continue to work, your benefit might be increased somewhat by the additional earnings. This typically happens if you had a low-earning year included in the 35 highest-earning years that Social Security uses to calculate your benefit. If you had earned more in 2020 than in one of those previous years, then your 2020 earnings would replace that past year’s earnings in the formula and boost your benefit.

The 8% delayed retirement credit probably will have a much bigger effect on what you ultimately get, though, so don’t fret about any missed opportunities. Just try to delay your application as long as you can.

Q&A: When to claim Social Security

By

Dear Liz: The common assumption seems to be that, in most cases, it’s a good idea to delay collecting Social Security because the longer you wait, the higher your monthly benefits will be. I will reach my full retirement age of 66 years and 2 months in July. According to the Social Security Administration website, my monthly benefit would get bumped up if I waited to start collecting until 66 years and 8 months, next February. The next bump wouldn’t be for another full year, at 67 years and 8 months. My current plan is to retire in March or April of next year. Is there any reason I shouldn’t start collecting my benefit as soon as I get to the 66 years and 2 months threshold?

Answer: It’s not clear what you were looking at, but your Social Security benefit earns delayed retirement credits every month you put off your application after your full retirement age. Those credits add up to 8% annually and increase your checks for the rest of your life.

Social Security can be complicated, and making the right claiming decision isn’t always easy, but your choice can have a huge impact on your future financial security. Please consult a fee-only, fiduciary financial planner before you retire so you can be confident you’re doing the right thing.

Q&A: Social Security and spousal benefits

By

Dear Liz: My wife and I are both 66 and have not yet filed for Social Security. I don’t plan on filing until I am 70. Is my wife able to file for her own retirement benefit now, which is much lower than mine? And then when I file at 70 years, can she switch to the spousal benefit rate, without any type of penalty?

Answer: Yes and yes. This is one of the few instances in which people can still switch from one benefit to the other.

If you had already applied, your wife’s retirement benefit would be compared to her spousal benefit and she would get the larger of the two amounts. Since you haven’t applied, however, no spousal benefit is available. Your wife could receive her own benefit and then switch to the larger spousal amount once you apply at 70, when your own benefit has maxed out.

Also, as long as your wife has reached her full retirement age (66 years and two months, if she was born in 1955), she won’t face the earnings test if she continues to work. That test otherwise reduces benefits by $1 for each $2 earned over a certain amount, which in 2021 is $18,960.