Devin Carroll

You can't change to a spousal benefit, but you can change to a survivors benefit.

Once you sign up for benefits you'll receive everything that you are entitled to receive. This is the deeming provision. Since you aren't eligible for survivor benefits, the age at which you file for your own or spousal benefits will not be a factor.

Hey Mike...if your wife files at 62 for her own benefits, she will be awarded all benefits for which she is eligible. This means that if you have already filed, she will be eligible for a spousal benefit.

You've discovered a murky sinkhole of rules in the SSA. As most people are aware, there is an annual earnings limit if you file for benefits. However, there is also a monthly test for certain time periods. This monthly test was created to be favorable, but the result is sometimes less favorable than the annual test would be. For the monthly test to be applied, you must be in a "Grace Year" as defined by the SSA. A "Grace Year" is the first taxable year in which you have a month with earnings below the monthly exempt amount (the SSA refers to this on their site as a NSM - non service month). The "Grace Year" is meant to accommodate individuals who wish to retire after their annual earnings have already surpassed the limit. In this year the prior earnings would not be counted and only monthly earnings would count. This is meant to allow flexibility, but as you're experiencing, it can sometimes be confusing. The SSA may interpret this differently, but here's what I think. The earnings from Jan-April would be counted towards the annual limit because you have not entered into a "Grace Year" by having a NSM. Even thought this is over the monthly limit, it will not exceed the annual limit which is the applicable limit for you. I would think you would be eligible for an unreduced benefit starting on January 1. If you work longer than 7 months before retiring, you'll be over the monthly limit so be sure of your strategy before you file.

Hmmm... Was your federal service military? Are you covered under the old retirement plan (CSRS)?

If you did not pay SS taxes during the time you were accumulating the pension benefits, the Government Pension Offset will affect you. This will be a reduction equal to 2/3 of your PERS pension. This means that the SSA will deduct around $1,188 from your survivors benefit once you begin receiving your PERS pension. This will leave you with an estimated benefit of $573 from SS. It's important to note that the GPO reduction will not begin until you start receiving the pension. It's possible that filing for your own benefit could result in a slightly higher benefit. Check with the SSA to find out.Just be sure to tell them that you will be subject to a "non-covered" pension. Otherwise, they'll just quote you the standard benefit. I really wish my news was better.

Your survivors benefit should be based on his full retirement age benefit and then reduced for your filing age. This is because the disability benefit is the accelerated full retirement age benefit.

The SSA should have automatically increased her benefit when she became eligible for spousal benefits. However, there's no guarantee this happened unless you verify the numbers. From what I see the numbers sound about right, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure. It would only take a quick phone call to the SSA to find out what parts her benefit is made of. You can reach them at 800-772-1213. To Mikes point...there was probably some strategy that could have been used but that is water under the bridge now.

I think you've been misinformed about mandatory tax withholding. You CAN have this stopped. If you run into a SS tech that tells you this again, show them the following excerpt from their own processing manual that tells them what code to use when changing the voluntary tax withholding to 0%. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0202410015 Section 7 says, "7. Discontinuing VTW-If the beneficiary wants to stop or suspend VTW, or elects a future withholding date, code a 0 percent withholding rate." The Medicare information sounds correct. At 65 your TRICARE becomes a Medicare wraparound coverage and Medicare part B is required. You don't want to miss signing up for this. The penalties for missing this are steep at 10% in excess premium per year.

She is not going to lose all SS spousal or survivor benefits, just an amount equal to 2/3 of her pension. Since this came from wages as a bus driver, I suspect it's not very high. Thus, the corresponding reduction will not be that high.

Hi Linda, I may not have the answers you are looking for, but I'd like to get some more information before I answer. 1) Can you list the "ballpark" amount of your SS benefit from your work? 2) Can you list the amount of survivors benefits if you filed today? 3) Did you pay Social Security taxes on your wages earned while on the city council or the police department?

There is a specific way to withdraw from TRS and thus enable your spousal or survivor benefits, but it's usually not worth it. The provision that takes away spousal benefits is referred to as the Government Pension Offset. This provision will reduce a spousal or survivor benefit by an amount equal to 2/3 of your TRS pension. Read more about the workaround in my article What You Should Know About the Government Pension Offset. The basic math on why this strategy does not work for most is as follows: Assume the following $1,000 TRS Pension $1,000 SS spousal benefit (without the offset) $334 SS spousal benefit after the offset If you withdraw from TRS, your SS benefit would go up by $666, but you would lose a $1,000 in pension benefits. There are some cases where this makes sense. However, you have to be very careful when executing this strategy or the SSA will still count a withdrawal as a pension and the same provisions will apply. Again, I list the applicable SS publications in the linked article above. Read those before you do anything.

Unfortunately, there are many options for getting an overpayment waived. The SSA is not very lenient on this. If you've just received your notice, check out this article where I discuss what to do. The Best Way to Fix a Social Security Overpayment Letter

The choice of when to file for benefits is deceptively complex. There are multiple additional factors which are not listed here that must be considered. For example: What is both of your health statuses? How much do you have saved? How much total income do you need? Do you have any minor children at home? Are any of the pensions from jobs where you did not pay SS taxes? From a very broad view, delaying your filing is always better. You simply cannot beat the return that you or your surviving spouse will receive. However, the unique details of your individual situation is where the differences come in. Check out these resources I've put together for making this decision.

Yes to both. You could get a spousal benefit since your wife is on SSDI. However, if your own benefit is higher you'll simply receive that instead. There's no way to selectively file for spousal benefits only. If you file for any benefits before your full retirement age, the earnings limit will apply ($17,640 in 2019).

It may or may not. The SS benefits formula is based on your highest 35 years of inflation adjusted earnings. Since he is approximately 62 now, his benefit will likely not decrease, but if his future earnings replace one of the highest 35 years in his calculation his benefit would be recalculated and would increase.

Are you wanting to get a spousal benefit based on her work or the other way around?

Hi Mike! If your wife files at 62, the SSA will give her everything that she is entitled to receive. If she is entitled to a spousal benefit, she'll automatically get that when she files for her own. One caveat to this is that she will only be eligible for her own benefit until you file for your benefits. If these happen at separate times, the reduction amounts could be different. Check out this video I made where I cover a scenario like this.

Don't feel bad for not knowing that. This is complicated stuff. ?

A representative at the SSA will have to help you with that. Call the national number for quicker service at 800-772-1213.

I have no idea if this will be possible for you, but you can get a spousal or survivors SS benefit if you spend the last 60 months working for an employer where you contribute to the same retirement plan and social security. You have to be very careful doing this! Read more about this at my article https://socialsecurityintelligence.com/the-government-pension-offset/

As long as your monthly income does not exceed $3,910, Yes!

Maybe. ? Your benefit amount is set and will not change unless one of your years of current earnings replaces one of the highest 35 years of inflation adjusted earnings. If this happens, your benefit will be recalculated and reset.

You may be referencing the video I did titled, "You Can't Get Social Security at 62." The SSA website discusses this at https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300615015. This is the video where I discuss that you have to be 62 for a full month to qualify for benefits. For example, if your birthday is June 6th, the SSA does not count you as 62 until July. So you'd be eligible for a benefit for July which would be paid in August. However, you may be referencing the video I just did on survivor benefits and the discussion on the widow's limit. This is where the deceased spouse filed early and effectively locked in the benefits a deceased spouse can receive. Let me know which of these it is and I'll try to follow up with more information.

I'm not which version of the book you have, but everything changed in 2015/2016. 1) To my knowledge, Social Security disability payments and retirement benefits are equally taxable. The extent to which these benefits are taxed is determined by a formula known as provisional income. 2) If you "withdraw" from SSDI, you'll most likely have to pay back all the benefits you've received. A "suspension" is what you'd want to do after these benefits convert to retirement benefits. This would allow your benefits to increase with the delayed retirement credits, but all benefits being paid from that individuals work record would stop. https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/withdrawal.html .