Hello Larry et al!

Hoping for some direction!! Hold onto your hats for this (seemingly complicated) series of questions!

I am a 54 year old Canadian citizen and resident. My American spouse (who moved to Canada) passed away a few years ago; all jobs he held were US based. I have been blessed to fall in love again - to yet another American. IF we decide to get married, I understand I will lose any of my deceased spouse's social security. Will I be entitled to a future spouse's benefits without being married f? Hypothetically, let's say I remarry him at my age of 55, which would make him 60, if he starts to collect ss at 65.

To piggyback on that - this man will be collecting 50% of an ex-wife's pension (she is not entitled to ss) which, if collected at this moment in time would result in about $2,500 a month for him, he is entitled to his own social security but will that be pro-rated due to the pension income? I apologize if it's come up in previous questions - I've looked as best I can, but haven't been successful. ALSO! I will be entitled to CPP (Canada Pension Plan) anytime after I turn 60 (same applies as ss, the longer you wait to collect, the higher the monthly amount), and any husband of mine will benefit from 60% of what I was collecting but only upon my death. I don't believe this survivor's pension is subject to WEP. Would my CPP be affected by collecting a spouse's social security?

Thank you for any help you can provide! If your software can aid us, I'll purchase and be on board in a heartbeat!

Cheers,
Karen

Hi Karen,

Well, if you remarry prior to age 60 you couldn't become entitled to survivor benefits on your deceased husband's record for as long as your new marriage lasts. If you do remarry, though, you could potentially draw spousal benefits on your new husband's record when and if you meet the requirements for those benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.03/handbook-0305.html). The earliest that you could qualify for spousal benefits is at age 62, unless you have a child in your care who is either under age 16 or disabled and who qualifies for child's benefits on your new husband's record.

If your new husband receives a non-Social Security pension based on his ex-wife's earnings it would have no effect on either his Social Security benefits nor any Social Security benefits you might be able to draw.

Drawing your CPP pension would have no adverse effect on your ability to collect spousal or survivor benefits from the U.S. Social Security system. Nor would drawing a CPP spousal or survivor benefit have any adverse impact on your husband's U.S. Social Security benefits. I'm not an expert on the CPP, though, so I don't know whether or not your CPP benefits could be affected if you draw spousal benefits from the U.S.

I believe that you and your potential spouse could definitely benefit from using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully explore and compare all of your various options so that you can determine your best strategy with regard to your benefits.

Best, Jerry