Foreign spouse and social security

[1924F4mandolin]

Anybody have a wife who is not a US citizen and getting the spouse social security? I would imagine (hope) there are. I have been told by a finance guy that my wife will be eligible for the spouse part of social security (we would be living in the US)...which is 50% of what I will get....anybody actually get this? Or has this part of my planning just got hammered?
Fred

[FIREd]

Check this out:

Your Payments While You Are Outside The United States

The answer seems to be yes, she would qualify if she meets the residency requirements outlined above.

[1924F4mandolin]

Thanks.....I thought I might have seen it somewhere before. The finance guy that told me this one a year or so ago said he had a big argument with a tax or social security guy about this when he had a customer who was American and married a Canadian. The fellow eventually called back to say he checked on it and he was right. It just makes me a bit nervous to PLAN on getting this money. I don't know if you know the answer to this one as well.....if I put off taking SS until 64 or so, would my wife also get half of that larger amount? Which would be a good argument for holding off as long as possible on taking SS for me.
Fred

[FIREd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1924F4mandolin I don't know if you know the answer to this one as well.....if I put off taking SS until 64 or so, would my wife also get half of that larger amount? Which would be a good argument for holding off as long as possible on taking SS for me. Fred

It depends how old your wife will be when she starts collecting her benefits.

Benefits for your spouse

For example if you expect to receive $1000 a month from SS when you reach your full retirement age, you wife would receive $500 a month from SS when SHE reaches her full retirement age as well. If she starts collecting before reaching her full retirement age her benefit would be reduced.

Also look here:

Answer

and here:

Answer

[lazygood4nothinbum]

so heterosexual noncitizen spouses can get united states social security payments but my american born gay partner can not benefit from mine? well, that seems fair.

[Rambler]

I looked at the answers, and I'm still not convinced, perhaps a bit more confused. Probably best to speak with someone in the SS office. An attorney friend of mine had told me several years back that the non-citizen spouse of a US citizen could not receive SS benefits. Perhaps that is true in his case because they have not lived in the states for 5 years since marraige.

I was also told that the inheritance tax does not work the same way for non-citizen survivors/beneficiaries. They must pay the death tax on every penny inherited.

For both of these reasons, and for a couple others related to her family members, she will become a US citizen at the earliest possible date after we return from our assignment.

R

[1924F4mandolin]

That's kind of what I thought as well......the system is not right. My wife...who has worked her butt off all her life here in England will get MORE retirement benefits from the US than she will from the UK. Hmmmmm... not that I won't take advantage of course..........She literally will get less than $5000 a YEAR for her 14 years so far as a teachers assistant(IFFFF she works until she is 65-which she isn't going to if I have anything to say about it)...and other schools...and raising 4 kids...and ...and ...and.....and she will get about $6000 a year as my wife in the US. I won't complain about the US system...but the UK system sucks. She works her butt off with kids who are really hard to work with (their school got 1 of the 2 outstanding ratings in the county...lots of schools in N Yorkshire....100's). But then again....medical isn't so scary here.....if you can get help. But I love this country as well...so I can't harp too much against it.... been good to me.