Social Security Archives - Page 25 of 30

May 26, 2014 By Liz Weston

Q&A: Social Security Benefits and Divorce

Dear Liz: I am 53 and divorced. My ex-husband died at the age of 49 and had contributed significantly to Social Security. I don’t plan to remarry. Would I be able to make any claim on his record as an ex-spouse when I reach age 62, or would he have had to reach retirement age for this to be possible?

Answer: If your marriage lasted at least 10 years, you could get the same benefits as a widow or widower. We’ll assume your ex was “fully insured” under Social Security, which means he paid enough into the system to qualify for benefits.

For the sake of brevity, we’ll also assume that you’re not disabled or caring for his minor or disabled child. (You could still qualify for benefits if any of these were true, but the rules would be somewhat different.)

Your survivors’ checks would be based on what he would have received had he survived until retirement (a sum known as his primary insurance amount). If he had been 62 or older when he died and had started receiving Social Security checks, your benefit would have been based on what he was actually receiving.

You can start survivors’ benefits as early as age 60 if you’re not disabled. If you start benefits before your own full retirement age, however, your benefits will be reduced because of the early start. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you don’t apply until age 62 or later and your own retirement benefits are larger than your widows’ benefit, you’ll get your own benefit instead.

On the other hand, you’re allowed to switch from his benefit to your own at any point between age 62 and age 70. It’s possible that your own benefit, left untouched to grow, eventually could exceed your survivors’ benefit. Obviously, this decision will involve crunching some numbers to see which approach makes the most sense. The Social Security Administration suggests you contact your local office or call (800) 772-1213 to learn how much you could receive on your ex’s work record, since that’s not information you can access online.

One other thing you should know: Since you’d be getting survivors’ rather than spousal benefits, you could remarry after you reach age 60 without endangering your checks. Those whose exes are still alive have to refrain from remarrying if they want their spousal benefits to continue.

Filed Under: Divorce & Money, Estate planning, Q&A Tagged With: Divorce, q&a, Social Security, Social Security benefits

May 12, 2014 By Liz Weston

Q&A: Social Security Payouts

Dear Liz: My wife and I, 63 and 62, plan to continue working till at least 65. We will begin collecting Social Security benefits in September. Our combined income is $58,000, we own our home outright, and we have no debt, no children, $84,000 in a traditional IRA and $90,000 in a stock portfolio.

I just sold a portion of a mutual fund for a $30,000 gain that is in the bank for the time being. How long do we have to reinvest without paying a capital gains tax? Or would it be best to pay the tax now, leave the money in the bank and be done with it?

Answer: Unless you sell another investment for a $30,000 loss to offset the gain, you’re going to have to pay taxes on your profit.

“There is no way to do a tax-free reinvestment,” said tax professional Eva Rosenberg, an enrolled agent who runs the TaxMama.com site. “And the time to ask questions like that is before you sell the mutual funds.”

You still have time to avoid a much bigger mistake: signing up for Social Security now.

Your Social Security checks would be reduced $1 for every $2 you earn over a certain level, which this year is $15,480. That “earnings test” applies until you reach your full retirement age (which is 66, not 65, for both you and your wife). What’s more, you would lock in lower benefits for life and give up a chance to boost your Social Security payout in a way that’s available only to married couples who wait until full retirement age to start benefits. (More on that in a moment.)

Your savings are too small to generate much income, particularly if you want to minimize the chances of running out of money. You should be looking to maximize your Social Security benefits to help make up for that deficit. Your benefits grow substantially each year you put off applying for them, and most people will live past the break-even point where delaying benefits until full retirement age results in more money than taking them early.

Many people erroneously think they should grab Social Security as early as they can, but the Social Security system isn’t going away, and you are likely to regret settling for a smaller check. Remember that your wife probably will outlive you and will have to get by on one check, so you should make sure your benefits are as big as they can be.

One way to do that is for the lower-earning spouse to claim spousal benefits at his or her full retirement age. Once the lower earner’s benefit maxes out at age 70, he or she can switch if that benefit is larger.

But spousal benefits can’t start until the higher earner files for his or her own benefit. If the higher earner waits until full retirement age to apply, he or she has the option to “file and suspend” — a maneuver that lets the spouse claim spousal benefits while leaving the higher earner’s benefit untouched so it can continue to grow.

This “claim now, claim more later” strategy is available only to people who wait until their full retirement age to start.

Your tax question and your plan to start Social Security early indicate you could really use some sessions with a fee-only financial planner. Such a consultation is a good idea for everyone as they’re approaching retirement, but in your case, it’s essential.

Filed Under: Couples & Money, Investing, Q&A, Retirement Tagged With: Investing, q&a, Retirement, Social Security

May 6, 2014 By Liz Weston

Tuesday’s need-to-know money news

Today’s top story: How to avoid the 10 most common student loan mistakes. Also in the news: Finding the essential facts on your social security statement, using targeted savings to achieve your financial goals, and how to save money on utilities as the hot weather approaches.

The 10 Most Common Student Loan Mistakes
Learning how to avoid them.

5 Essential Facts on Your Social Security Statement
Where to find these important pieces of information.

How to Use Targeted Savings to Achieve Goals
Using subaccounts to save for specific things.

5 Ways You Can Save Money on Your Utility Bills
Preparing for air conditioning season.

Refinance Wisdom: Should You or Shouldn’t You?
With interest rates expected to creep up, is now the time to refinance?

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: refinancing, Savings, Social Security, social security statement, Student Loans, targeted savings, utility bills

April 25, 2014 By Liz Weston

Social Security statements make a comeback

Until a few years ago, Social Security sent annual statements to just about everybody who was still working to let them know what they could expect to receive in retirement, survivor and disability benefits (minus a 25% or so haircut if Congress never gets its act together to fix the system). Those statements got axed by budget cuts, but now Congress wants them resumed.

Here’s the scoop from Reuters columnist Mark Miller:

Starting this September, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will resume mailings at five-year intervals to workers who have not signed up to view their statements online, an agency spokesman told Reuters. The statements will be sent to workers at ages 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60, he said, adding the agency would continue to promote use of the online statements.

We won’t be getting these in the Weston household, since we signed up for online accounts. (If you decide to go that route, note that some people have had trouble setting up their Social Security accounts because they have security freezes on their credit reports at Experian, the bureau that Social Security uses to verify identity. Investment News columnist Mary Beth Franklin says you’ll have to unfreeze your report, or visit a Social Security office in person with a government-issued ID to set up an online account.)

Social Security tends to be a pretty vague concept for most people until they start closing in on retirement age–or they’re unlikely enough to need its survivor or disability benefits. But the system contributes half or more of most people’s retirement income, so it’s worth knowing what you’ve been promised. Perhaps knowing might even inspire you to lean on your lawmakers to get the system’s problems fixed while there’s still time.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: disability benefits, Social Security, Social Security Administration, Social Security benefits, survivor benefits

April 25, 2014 By Liz Weston

A Social Security “do over” you should consider

For years Social Security had a loophole that allowed people to hit “reset” on their benefits.

Those who had made the mistake of starting benefits early had the option of paying back all the money they’d received from Social Security. Then they could restart their checks at a higher rate that they would enjoy for the rest of their lives. For those who could afford it, this “do over” was similar to buying an annuity with a risk-free annual payout of 7% to 9%.

Social Security closed the loophole in 2010, and now you have only 12 months from the time you start benefits to pay back what you’ve received and hit the reset button. This limited do over could help those who make smaller mistakes, such as starting benefits right before their full retirement ages, but doesn’t represent the great investment deal that it used to.

But there’s another potential do over that people should know about, and it has to do with the “file and suspend” strategy.

This strategy is typically recommended for married couples. The first to reach full retirement age (currently 66, gradually increasing to 67) files for Social Security benefits but then immediately suspends the application. This move allows spouses to file for spousal benefits while leaving the older spouse’s benefit alone to grow.

If the younger spouses wait until their own full retirement age to begin spousal benefits, they’ll have the option of switching to their own benefit later, say at age 70 when it maxes out.

This strategy can add as much as $250,000 to the lifetime benefits a married couple can receive.

But the file-and-suspend strategy has other applications. It can be a kind of insurance policy for single people as well as married couples. Those who file and suspend can later change their mind and receive a lump-sum payout.

Let’s say you’re single and want to leave your benefit alone to continue growing at 8% a year until age 70. So you file and suspend at your full retirement age of 66. But if you should lose your job, run into financial problems or get a bad medical diagnosis, you can start your checks and request a lump-sum payout of your benefits back to the date you suspended.

Anyone who files-and-suspends so a spouse can get benefits could do the same thing, of course. For those who want to maximize their benefits but still give themselves a safety net in case of disaster, file and suspend can make a lot of sense.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: file and suspend, longevity insurance, Social Security, Social Security Administration, Social Security benefits, Social Security do over

April 13, 2014 By Liz Weston

Social security switch

Dear Liz: When I turned 66, I applied for and then suspended my Social Security benefits so that my husband could take spousal benefits based on my work record. Shortly after he turned 69, he decided to start taking his full benefit from his own work record, so we canceled the spousal benefits.

After he applied to take his full benefit, I applied for spousal benefits from his account. Since I am only 67, the plan was for me to collect spousal benefits until I reached 70 and then collect off my account. Since I am the primary breadwinner, that allows the maximum lifetime funding should something happen to either of us. I sat with an employee at the local Social Security office. Together we processed all the appropriate documentation and she submitted it.

I just received a notice of denial that says, “We cannot approve your request because we received it after the 12-month limit.” I took the letter to the Social Security office for an explanation, and the woman had never heard of the rule it cited. The rule, it turns out, was designed to prevent people from repaying all the benefits they’ve received over the years so that they can restart their benefit at age 70. The rule says that they can pay back only benefits received in the prior 12 months to restart their benefits. But that is not what I did.

Answer: No, it’s not, but what you tried to do still won’t work.

Here’s the simplest way to explain it: There’s only one spousal benefit for each couple. Once you filed for your own benefit, allowing your husband to claim spousal benefits, you aren’t allowed to switch even though you hadn’t started receiving checks yet.

If it’s any consolation, you chose the right spouse to receive spousal benefits, since you’re the higher earner. It would have been best if your husband had waited to switch at age 70, when his benefit reached its maximum, but his checks are still substantially larger than they would have been if he had started earlier.

Another point that should be made because it’s often misunderstood, is that your husband was allowed to switch from spousal benefits to his own benefit because he started Social Security at or after his own full retirement age. If he’d started benefits before his full retirement age, which is currently 66, he would have been stuck with a discounted spousal benefit and couldn’t have switched to his own benefit later.

Filed Under: Couples & Money, Q&A, Retirement Tagged With: Retirement, Social Security, spousal benefits

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