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Today’s column addresses the amount of a future survivor’s benefits, whether earnings after filing can increase benefit amounts, whether child-in-care spousal benefits reduce later retirement benefits, when Social Security benefits can begin and when the earnings test can apply. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, a company that markets Maximize My Social Security and MaxiFi Planner. Both tools maximize lifetime Social Security benefits. MaxiFi also finds retirement account withdrawal strategies and other ways to lower your lifetime taxes and raise your lifetime spending. Most important, it suggests how much to spend and save each year to enjoy a stable living standard through time.
See more Ask Larry answers here.
Ask Larry about Social Security:
Will My Wife’s Social Security Widow’s Benefit Equal My Increased Amount At 70?
Hi Larry, a few years ago I read your book in anticipation of coordinating and maximizing mine and my wife’s Social Security. Unfortunately the revisions to the law in 2015 precluded our optimization strategy. I am 64 and my wife turns 62 in late summer. She is inclined to start collection at 62. If I wait until age 70 and die first, will my wife be able to collect the full amount of my larger Social Security payment?
Hi, Yes, as long as your wife is at least full retirement age (FRA) when she starts drawing widow’s benefits, her benefit rate would be unreduced even if she starts drawing her own retirement benefits at 62. So if you wait until 70 to start drawing your benefits and you subsequently die before your wife, she would receive your full age 70 rate assuming that your benefit amount is higher than her own retirement benefit rate. She wouldn’t get both her own benefit amount and yours, though, just the higher of the two. Best, Larry
Will My Husband’s Earnings After He Filed Increase His Benefit Rate?
HI Larry, My husband started collecting his benefit at full retirement age. He was still working at the time and still is. When he retires in a couple years, will his continued income increase his benefit amount or will it stay the same? If it does increase, is it automatic or does he have to contact them? Thanks, Diana
Hi Diana, Your husband’s earnings since filing for benefits may or may not increase his benefit rate depending on how much he’s been earning. Social Security retirement benefit are based on a person’s highest 35 years of wage-indexed earnings. Therefore, if your husband earned more in one or more of the last few years than he did in one or more of his previous highest 35 years on which his initial benefit rate was based, then his benefit amount should go up.
Recomputations to include earnings after a person’s initial entitlement to benefits are automatic, but your husband could request a manual recomputation by contacting Social Security and submitting proof of his recent earnings (e.g. W-2 forms for wages, or Schedule SE from his tax returns if he’s self-employed). Best, Larry
How Would Filing For Child-In-Care Spousal Benefits Affect My Wife’s Future Benefits On Her Own Record?
Hi Larry, I will be 66 next month and my wife is 59. Based on our earnings, we will both receive around $2,400 at FRA. We have a disabled adult child with Down syndrome living at home. I understand that once I file for benefits, my wife is eligible for a spousal benefit when caring for our son at any age (as is our son). I don’t understand how that impacts her future benefit based on her own work record since she will start to receive spousal benefits before 62 let alone her FRA of 66 10 months. I plan to take my benefit on my 66 birthday (FRA). Thanks, Paul
Hi Paul, If your wife qualifies for child-in-care spousal benefits, it won’t have any effect on her future Social Security retirement benefits or options. She could potentially switch to drawing her own benefits at any point starting at 62 or later, and the fact that she previously received child-in-care spousal benefits would have no bearing on her retirement benefit rate.
It sounds like your family has a number of potential options available for claiming your Social Security benefits, and numerous variables are involved in determining which of those options is best in your case. You may want to use one of my company’s two tools — Maximize My Social Security and MaxiFi Planner — to help maximize your lifetime Social Security benefits. Social Security calculators provided by other companies or non-profits may provide proper suggestions if they were built with extreme care. Thanks, Larry
Can I Apply For Social Security At Age 60?
Hi Larry, I’d like to apply for my Social Security at 60 if I can. Is this possible? Thanks, Steve
Hi Steve, The earliest that you could draw Social Security retirement benefits is age 62, and your benefit rate would be reduced for age if you do so. However, you could potentially qualify for Social Security disability benefits at 60 or even earlier if you meet the requirements for those benefits. It’s also possible to draw benefits as early as age 60 as a widow or surviving divorced spouse, or at any age for individuals who meet the requirements for disabled adult child’s benefits on a parent’s record. Best, Larry
Do I Need To Notify Social Security If I Go Back To Work?
Hi Larry, In August I will be 66 and have been collecting Social Security retirement benefits since 62. If I go back to work, do I need to contact Social Security prior to employment? Thanks, Sandy
Hi Sandy, If you’ll turn 66 in August 2019, you could work and earn any amount starting in August and still be able to draw all of your Social Security benefits. Social Security’s earnings test is only applied up to the month you reach your full retirement age (FRA), which in your case is 66. Best, Larry
To learn more about your Social Security options, visit Economic Security Planning, Inc.