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What Happens To My Social Security When I Die?

hello first I would like to know if this is free my question is what happens to my s.s.b. when I die my next question is if I work full time after getting ssb. does it change the amount or do we pay taxes on ssb thank you very much

Hi,

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Social Security benefits stop when you die, but eligible family members could potentially receive survivor benefits after that (https://www.ssa.gov/survivors/). They would have to qualify for monthly benefits, though. Social Security is insurance against loss of income due to death, disability or old age, so there is no guarantee that you or anyone else will ever collect any benefits. It's not like an individual retirement fund that would be distributed to next of kin or your estate.

Social Security retirement benefit rates are based on a person's highest 35 years of wage-adjusted earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf). If a person continues to work after filing for benefits, they can potentially increase their benefit rate if their annual earnings are higher than one or more of the years previously used to calculate their benefit rate.

Some of your Social Security benefits may be taxable depending on your other income. For more information on this provision, refer to Social Security's website: https://www.ssa.gov/planners/taxes.html.

Best, Jerry

Category: 
Posted: 
May 9 2017 - 7:52am
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