Can You Point Me To The Specific Rule That States The Amount Payable Can Exceed The Family Maximum?
Your "Ask Larry" response under the topic "How Does A Combined Family Maximum Work?" closely addresses our family situation (two parents at FRA and 1 Disabled Adult Child). Specifically, your response states that total family benefits are not limited to the combined family maximum; that is only the limit payable on one parent's record. So the total payable is actually the lesser of the statutory limit or the sum of the combined family maximum plus the PIA of the lower earning spouse. (Our family benefits are not close to the statutory limit, so that is not a factor.) The . . . Read More
Category: Family Benefit Maximum
Posted: Oct 19 2018 - 9:51am
Will My Benefit Rate Go Up By The Time I'm Age 65 If I Stop Working At Age 62?
If I quit working at 62+ years and file for survivors, then file for my own ss at 65, will my benefit go up during the years I am not working and receiving survivors benefit?
Hi,
Your primary insurance amount (PIA), which is the equivalent of your full retirement age benefit rate, would not go up if you stop working except for Social Security cost of living increases (COLA). However, if you wait to claim your own retirement benefits until age 65 instead of starting them at age 62 your monthly rate will be higher. For people who turn age 62 this year . . . Read More
Category: Retirement Benefits
Posted: Oct 19 2018 - 9:33am
How Would Family Benefits Be Calculated In This Case?
JOE has a FRA benefit of $2754; wife Mary receives a pension where she did not pay into SS of $1400 a month; Mary has a small WEPPED SS benefit of her own at $156. Daughter Ann on SSI of $735. Joe wants to file at FRA. Family max is $4875. How is family max calculated.? What amount does each family member receive? I realize that when Joe files, daughter Ann becomes DAC and get 50%. Confusion comes because wife Mary has her SS benefit reduced by the WEP and, if she files for a spousal, reduced by GPO. VERY COMPLEX AND CONFUSING TO ME!
Hi,
Assuming that . . . Read More
Category: Family Benefit Maximum
Posted: Oct 18 2018 - 8:06pm
When Should I Apply For Benefits If I Want To Start Drawing At Age 70?
Hi Larry-
I bought your terrific book in 2016 and it got me through step one .....and now I need to take step two. I hope you can help me make it to the finish line.
I will be 70 in February 2019. My wife is currently 68. As a result of your great guidance, previously she filed for her benefits when she was 66 and at that time I took spousal benefits only (with everything you suggested written on the application to assure I was not foregoing my right to my full delayed benefit when I reached 70). So, monthly, she has been getting her full benefit and I have been . . . Read More
Category: Filing For Benefits
Posted: Oct 18 2018 - 7:40pm
Is There An Age When You No Longer Receive An Increase In Your Social Security?
Is there an age when you no longer receive an increase in your Social Security?
Hi,
No.
Best, Jerry
Category: Miscellaneous
Posted: Oct 18 2018 - 7:36pm
Should I Start Drawing Benefits Sooner To Take Advantage Of The 2.8% COLA?
I used your software to determine my current filing plan. However, there is now the twist of the just announced COLA tossed into the mix. I turn 70 in May 2019. Would it be advantageous start in December and forgo the 3.67% but with the compounding of the announced COLA of 2.8%, it seems that it would come to just over the 32% increase I am currently waiting for AND get an extra 5 months of benefits?
Hi,
No. You'll get the 2.8% cost of living increase (COLA) regardless of when you start drawing your benefits. All Social Security COLA increases that . . . Read More
Category: Cost Of Living Increases
Posted: Oct 18 2018 - 9:27am
Will I Be Enrolled In Either Part A Or B Of Medicare If I File For Spousal Benefits?
Does filing a restricted application on my spouse's benefits (she will be 70, I will be 68) enroll me in Medicare Part A or B? I want to keep working til I'm 70 and file for full benefits then; my employer has a group health plan that I prefer over Medicare.
thank you
Hi,
You would automatically be enrolled in Part A of Medicare effective 6 months prior to the month you file your application for spousal benefits, but no earlier than the month you reach age 65. You are not permitted to decline enrollment in Part A of Medicare if you file for . . . Read More
Category: Medicare
Posted: Oct 17 2018 - 6:05pm
Would My Wife And Daughter Both Get Half Of My Full Benefit Rate If I File At Age 62?
I am a federal employee under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). FERS is a 3 tiered system consisting of a Pension, a 401K, and Social Security (SS). My situation is this. If I retire at age 62 my estimated SS benefit is $1700/mo. My estimated full retirement benefit (FRB) at age 66 and 8 months is $2400. I also have a daughter who will turn 13 one month after my 62nd birthday and my wife will be 58 at the time of my 62nd birthday. I have read the existing rules on benefits for minor children and the spouse who will care for them and have come up with some numbers . . . Read More
Category: Family Benefit Maximum
Posted: Oct 17 2018 - 5:29pm
Could My Mother-In-Law Have Suspended Her Own Benefits And Received Survivor Benefits Instead?
My mother-in-law is presently 70 yrs old. She started her SS benefits when she was 62. Shortly thereafter, her husband died and she "switched" over to his higher survivor benefit...but technically, I think she maintained her own benefit and applied for window's benefits, which was the difference between her deceased husband's higher benefit and her current benefit.
Could she have "suspended" her benefit back when her husband died, taken 100% of his benefit, and later "restarted" her own benefit at her age 70 if by then it had increased to an amount that exceeds her . . . Read More
Category: Filing Options
Posted: Oct 17 2018 - 12:32pm
Why Hasn't Some Group Filed A Class Action Against Social Security?
I understand we use a pay it forward system where my money is not technically my money, however, even cutting what I put into SS in half (thinking half for widows and orphans and half for me) the amount I have put in to date (I’m 58) with interest calculating yearly bond rates that SS says they invest in comes to $1.3 million.
At the amount they are going to pay me monthly, not even assuming that $1.3M was in an interest bearing account, I would have to live 99 MORE years after 67 to collect it all.
My question is really why has AARP or any other group brought . . . Read More
Category: Miscellaneous
Posted: Oct 17 2018 - 11:30am
