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Devin Carroll

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Posts posted by Devin Carroll

  1. Posted

    It's likely they are referring to the Windfall Elimination Provision. This rule reduces your SS benefit if you have a pension from work where you did not pay into SS. Before you dive too deeply into this you should know that these rules only affect 4% of the working population and as a result are very poorly understood by most technicians at the SSA. 

    You may want to get started by checking out my video series on this topic. It's labeled as "Social Security for Educators" but the rules are the same. Get past the first minute or so for the information you're looking for. After you watch this, post back with any additional questions you have. 

     

  2. Posted

    Here's what I think. At his full retirement age his SSDI benefit will convert to a regular benefit. This means that the programs that relate to SSDI, such as the 9 month trial work period, do not apply. There a paper that I discovered a while back from Cornell that discusses this transition in much easier-to-understand terms than ever presented by the SSA. Once his benefit transitions to a normal retirement benefit the voluntary suspension will be available. For every month his retirement benefit is suspended, it will increase by 2/3 of 1% (.6667%). https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0202409110  

  3. Posted

    Without knowing your entire situation it's difficult to know if you should do something different, but looking at the information you gave there's one small tweak I'd probably make. As soon as your wife files for her benefits you may want to consider filing a restricted application for spousal benefits only. Since you were born Jan. 1, 1954 you can still use this strategy. This way, the benefits from your work history would continue to increase and you could simply switch over to them at your age 70. 

     

  5. Posted

    Mike...it's nearly impossible to advise you based on the limited information I have. Your personal strategy will depend on the amount of income you need, the available income sources and the balance of your retirement account. 

    There are multiple scenarios that could make sense:

    1) Delay SS and take income from traditional balance. This way your SS would increase and when you filed you could supplement with the Roth balance. This benefit of a strategy such as this is that your Roth distributions are not counted for purposes of Social Security taxation (traditional distributions are). It could be that you would be able to take your entire SS check without taxes. 

    2) File for SS now and supplement with traditional balances. This way your Roth balances should increase. Any increase to a tax free vehicle will increase the total tax-free distributions. 

    The combinations are endless. If you'd like some help, I've available for an hourly consult. 

    • Thanks 1

  6. Posted

    It's possible for your grandchild to receive benefits until he is 18 and for your wife to receive a child-in-care benefit. However, in order for your grandchild to qualify for benefits under you, the following requirements must be met:

    1) The grandchild is a dependent

    AND either of the following are correct:

    1) Both parents are disabled or deceased
    2) You have legally adopted the grandchild

    I wrote about this in the article linked here --> https://socialsecurityintelligence.com/social-security-benefits-for-grandchildren/ . 

     

  7. Posted

    It all depends on how much she receives in teacher's retirement. If she has a pension from non-covered employment (where she did not pay SS taxes), her spousal or survivor benefits from SS will be reduced by an amount equal to 2/3 of her teacher's pension. This is from a provision call the Government Pension Offset. 

    For example, if her teacher's pension is $3,000, she would be subject to a reduction of $2,000 on any Social Security survivor or spousal benefits. In many cases, this completely wipes out SS. 

    I've written about this in my book, The Hero's Penalty.

    There are also several articles on this site which may help you:
    Teachers Retirement and Social Security

    What You Should Know About The Government Pension Offset

  10. Posted

    When she attains her full retirement age, her benefit will automatically convert to a retirement benefit. Once you file, if she is eligible for any spousal benefit, her benefit should be automatically increased. However, the SSA doesn't always catch the increases and you may have to remind them. 

    Check out my article on spousal benefits for more information.  https://socialsecurityintelligence.com/social-security-spousal-benefits/ . 

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