Hello Larry,

I am in a bit of a quandary on when to file for benefits (I have the max my SSA 1 year access still have questions). I have a 21 year old son with a permanent disability who is able to work a limited amount in a job that is meant for a person with a disability. He makes $500 bi-weekly which has reduced his SSI amount from $771 per month to just over $300 per month. I am considering filing for SSA benefits at 62 and 7 months (the end of this year) and continuing to work (which will basically eliminate my benefit and tack it on to my payout after FRA I believe). Continuing to work until 64 will allow us to keep our family insurance through my employer then one year of COBRA to take us to 65 (my wife will be 62 in October). Would also let my wife file then defer till 70 and collect spouse in care of disabled child benefits. So my questions are -
1) Am I okay to earn $100K plus per year and just let my loss of SSA roll until FRA?
2) My son will make just over $10K per year - want to confirm that he will still meet the earnings test - my FRA benefit is $2,953 per month.
3) My wife will be eligible for the same benefit amount as my son since the 3 of us combined won't reach my max benefit which is $5,113 per month family (my benefit will be low since filing at 62).

Do these assumptions seem correct?

Thanks,

Joe

Hi Joe,

The 'Ask Larry' forum is intended for general Social Security questions received from non subscribers. I answer the questions that come in on this forum, but I don't have access to the information submitted by our subscribers nor their results. Software subscribers are encouraged to submit any questions via an online contact form available in the help menu so that their questions can be answered by one of our experts with access to their data and results.

To clarify one thing for you, though, if you file for benefits this year and you continue working, the earnings test would require the withholding $1 of all benefits (i.e. including disabled child and spousal benefits) payable on your account for each $2 that your 2019 earnings exceed $17,640. In other words, if your benefits are withheld due to the earnings test, any disabled child and spousal benefits payable on your record would also be withheld.

For example, say Bob files for his benefits at age 62 & 7 months and receives a reduced rate of $2100. Bob's son and wife qualify for child and child in care spousal benefits respectively, and their benefit rates are $1000 each. Thus, total monthly benefits potentially payable on Bob's record are $4100. Bob is still working and will earn $117,640 in 2019, or $100,000 in excess of the earnings test exempt amount. Therefore, $50,000 in benefits would need to be withheld before either Bob or his wife or child could be paid any benefits from his account. And, since that's more than Bob and his family could potentially be due in benefits for 2019 even if they filed effective with January (i.e. 12 x $4100 = $49,200), no benefits would be payable to Bob or his family members.

You are correct, though, that if you file for benefits before your full retirement age (FRA) and you aren't paid any benefits for months prior to FRA your benefit rate would be adjusted effective at FRA to remove the reduction for age that was applied to your benefit rate. But, if you don't receive any benefits due to the earnings test, neither will your wife or child.

If your son qualifies for disabled child's (DAC) benefits he won't be subject to the regular Social Security earnings test described above. Instead, his earnings will need to be below the substantial gainful activity (SGA) limit. The monthly SGA limit in 2019 is $1220, so it sounds like he should be okay in that regard (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10095.pdf).

Best, Jerry