Ask Larry: Questions and Answers

Displaying 10051 - 10060 of 10063 questions.

Shouldn't I Take My Retirement Benefit Early to Get Benefits For My Young Son?

I'm Divorced, 65 June 2016. Son-lives with mother, I pay support, she takes deduction, turned 17 May 2016. From what I read, I can take early SS and in addition he is eligible while in high school for up to 50% of my SS in addition my what I receive, for the balance of his 17th year. I'll get about 2150 per month by taking SS early. Seems to me that extra 1000/mo for my son is worthwhile, especially as I have 2 stents and no prostate, so living to 95 is not too serious a consideration. Am I wrong? best, Frank

Dear Frank,

When it's best for you to . . . Read More

Category: Child Benefits
Posted: May 31 2016 - 2:30pm

Why Is It Optimal for Me to File Before My Full Retirement Age

My birthdate is Nov12, 1951. Why does the Maximized Strategy In your software suggest I file effective October 2016 at age 65? Wouldn't that yield less of a monthly benefit? I guess that I don't understand the logic there.

Dear Anonymous,

You specified your maximum age of life to be 85. Just to be clear, your maximum age of life is not your expected age of life. Your maximum age of life is the oldest age to which you could live. Your expected age of life is when you'll die, on average.

Since you only have one life to lose and you could lose . . . Read More

Category: Earnings Test
Posted: May 27 2016 - 11:00pm

Can We Get More By Getting Divorced?

Please let me know what you think of this scenario, assuming maximum earnings is the goal. 2 people (husband and wife) exact same age (born 1964), both high earners over many years, 0 children, no disabilities & can afford to wait to age 70. Question 1: Should they get divorced at age 68 in order to earn 2 social security checks (instead of the maximum family benefit)? Question 2: Is there any scenario in which it makes sense to get divorced at age 65 and for one to claim divorced spousal (or their own social security ) between ages 67 to 70 while the other waits to age 70 . . . Read More

Category: Divorced Spousal Benefits
Posted: May 27 2016 - 8:45pm

Can I File and Suspend This June?

In June 2016 I will be turning 66. I am single and have worked as a public school teacher for 6 years. I have worked most of the rest of my career self-employed as an educator. I would like to know if I can still 'FILE AND SUSPEND' my SS Benefits when I turn 66. Is it still possible? (I understand the last date to be able to do this was April 30, 2016). I am hoping to be able to work until I am 70, however, should something come up and I cannot work, I thought this option would be a prudent choice. Please let me know if this is still a possibility for me? THANK YOU, Darlene . . . Read More

Category: File and Suspend
Posted: May 27 2016 - 5:45pm

Confused About Widows Benefits

I am a bit confused about spousal benefits. I turn 66 this Oct. (2016). My husband passed away in Feb. 2013 at the age of 57. His DOB is 11/9/1955. According to your program I can start drawing spousal benefits now. So as a surviving spouse I can collect benefits even before his "early retirement age" (62 in 2017)? Will the benefit be reduced by claiming before his full retirement age (66 or 67)?
Thank you for considering my question.
Cyndy R.

Hi Cyndy,

Very sorry for your loss. You can collect widow benefits as early as age 60 (50 if you are disabled). The date . . . Read More

Category: Widow(er) Benefits
Posted: May 27 2016 - 5:30pm

Three True Social Security Horror Stories

Horror Story 1: Can you safely spend your Social Security benefits?

Imagine you become disabled, lose your job, go through the horrible stress associated with adjusting to your new status, apply and start collecting disability benefits and then discover you can do something you didn’t think you could do: namely, write. You write a children’s book and it does well and you start receiving royalty checks. All this happens in 1996. You then immediately realize that you need to check with Social Security if you can still receive your disability checks. You check and they say royalty . . . Read More

Category: Horror Stories
Posted: May 27 2016 - 5:15pm

When should I take my Social Security?

Jan: How do I know when to take my Social Security? A financial adviser told me it would take until I was 80 to make up for the benefits lost if I wait until 70 to start collecting. The adviser said I should start taking my benefits at 65 or 66, but continue working until age 70. How can I find out if this is true? He used a calculator. I was married for 20 years, and my late husband died when I was 50. I was told nothing of taking widow’s benefits, but I did collect for his child until she turned 18. I worked part time and do not know the earnings limit. I remarried at age 57 and have . . . Read More

Category: Widow(er) Benefits
Posted: May 25 2016 - 10:15pm

Don’t take a one-time payment. You can’t count on dying on time

Eric: I’ll be 69 in April and have held off taking benefits up to this point. I did a calculation to see what the break-even point would be at starting times of 66, 67, 68, 69 and 70. It turns out that all of them reach the break-even point at about age 80 to 81, at which time I would have made up the “leave it on the table” money and start coming out ahead with higher benefits (even factoring in the interest income lost). I’m thinking about pulling the trigger in April in order to get the 24 percent bonus, but I have found out that recently updated actuarial tables put my “lights out” age . . . Read More

Category: Remarriage, Suspending Retirement Benefits, Widow(er) Benefits
Posted: May 25 2016 - 10:15pm

Column: What’s the real deadline for the file and suspend strategy?

I’ve written about this before and must do so again as Social Security has dragged its feet to issue any formal clarification on the issue. The agency left this issue unresolved, only 16 days from the April 29 deadline.

Some 1.2 million people will turn 66 between April 30 and August 31 of this year. My understanding on first reading the new Social Security law, which passed in November, was that if you turned 66 during this period (or thereafter) you could still a) file for your retirement benefit and suspend its collection (since the new law does not preclude anyone doing that on . . . Read More

Category: New Law
Posted: May 25 2016 - 9:45pm

5 secrets and 5 gotchas to help you navigate Social Security’s new rules

Author’s Note: The new Social Security law passed last November has forced many (if not most) households to revise their optimal collection strategies. This is particularly the case now that we’ve passed Social Security’s April 29 deadline for providing spousal and child benefits while one’s own retirement benefit remains in suspension. The new law forced me and my co-authors, Paul Solman and Phil Moeller, to rewrite our “Get What’s Yours” book. The revised edition, published by Simon & Schuster, is out today. It explains the new law and how best to adjust to it. But it also provides . . . Read More

Category: New Law
Posted: May 3 2016 - 8:15pm
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