Another SS what if.

[Kamwak]

Here is my situation. I am 61 and may take SS at 62. My benefit amounts are 62 $1881, 66 $2494 and 70 $3293. My wife is 57 and will take SS at 67. Her benefits are 62 $579, 67 $803 and 70 $1,017. How much would she qualify for base on my benefit amount?

 

[LARS]

Spousal benefit is 1/2 (at FRA, should check on this).


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[pb4uski]

See The Social Security Spousal Benefit – Fully Explained | FiGuide

At your wife's FRA she would get 50% of your FRA benefit (aka PIA). I think that you your case she would get 50$ of $2,494, or $1,247 . If she takes SS before her FRA, the $1,247 would be further discounted because she is taking it early. If you die, she would inherit your benefit (and hers would go away).

YMMV and check other sources, but that's what my understanding is.

 

[homestead]

Here is my situation. I am 61 and may take SS at 62. My benefit amounts are 62 $1881, 66 $2494 and 70 $3293. My wife is 57 and will take SS at 67. Her benefits are 62 $579, 67 $803 and 70 $1,017. How much would she qualify for base on my benefit amount?

My wife and I just did this. She took it at 66 and I took it at 62. She got half of my FRA amount (66) minus the $104 for part A Medicare.

 

[ivinsfan]

You are getting close to the age where you could claim a benefit, as a long-time reader of this blog, I suggested you go to the FAQ section of the forum and start reading some of the many SS questions and threads. You will soon find out that the time you spend educating yourself on SS benefits will be of great value to your future. If you read thru threads and have a specific question people here are very kind and will help you out if they know the answer.

 

[fritz]

I took SS at 62 (two years ago) and my wife just took SS (spousal) this year @ 62. There is a convoluted SS formula for determining her benefits that SS uses that you can verify on the SS website yourself. You would think that her benefit would be 50% of my benefit @ 62, but it comes out just a little under that with the weird formula SS uses to set her amount.

 

[pb4uski]

According to the link I attached to post 3 above, I would think hers should be ~47% of yours because her 50% of your PIA is discounted 30% for taking early and yours is only discounted 25%. So her benefit is ~35% of your PIA [50% * (1-30%)] and your benefit is 75% of your PIA [100% * (1-25%)].

Something like that anyhow.

 

[Senator]

Generally, the higher earner should wait. If you can.

Here is the way I understand it.

You can file and suspend at FRA. She can immediately collect 50% of your amount, while you wait until 70. Then, when you are 70, you start collecting the larger benefit.

When she is 70, she can collect her FRA benefit+ the 70 years credit. If you die at 71, she gets your full larger amount.

I think you fill find that you will make more money that way, assuming you live a normal lifespan.

 

[N02L84ER]

Kamwak, my understanding is that your wife will receive 50% of your FRA amount if she waits until her FRA to collect. That amount will only change by inflation until you die and she gets bumped up to your amount. So, ignoring inflation you will collect 1881/mo or 22,572/yr until you are 70 and she is 66. Then you will collect ((2494*50%)+1881)/mo or 37,536/yr until you die and then she would collect your 22,572/yr.
A better option, if you can afford to wait, would be to wait until you are at least 66 and she is 62 to collect. At your age 66, you would get 2494/mo or 29,928/yr and she would be eligible for a spousal benefit of (2494*50%*(1-30%))/mo or 10,475/yr for a total of 40,403/yr until you die and then she would collect 29,928/yr. The cross over point where the latter option means more money collected is only at her age 67 and your age 71, ignoring inflation.

 

[fritz]

According to the link I attached to post 3 above, I would think hers should be ~47% of yours because her 50% of your PIA is discounted 30% for taking early and yours is only discounted 25%. So her benefit is ~35% of your PIA [50% * (1-30%)] and your benefit is 75% of your PIA [100% * (1-25%)].

Something like that anyhow.

Wife's SS comes out to be 49.2% of mine = .8% lower than 50% of my current age 62 payment (2 years COLA added). Her check is drawing from her own account and topping off with mine to get to this number (this is spousal computation per the SSA). Together we come out +/-13% shy of what I would collect myself annually at 70. Wife worked very little, but enough to get a check.

We do not need SS to live out the rest of our lives comfortably. We view SS as an annuity that goes away when we do. We take it and figure we've left that equivalent amount to continue to grow in our investments. I figure it would take us to our mid-to-late 80's to hit break-even with a conservative growth rate. The funds not taken from investments should grow to a nice low-mid six figure amount and be able to start paying out more than my wife would collect if I would have chosen to collect at 70 then passed away (and she goes on my SS). Would be a nice supplement to both our SS payments when I turn 70 as well. You also get to pass that money along to heirs after it's no longer being used to pay out an income.

 

[mathjak107]

My wife is already collecting since she was 62. I just retired at 62 and may file at 63.

When i file she will get a spousal adder since 1/2 mine is bigger.

Does anyone know if when i file is there paperwork she has to file to get that spousal adder or is it automatically added to hers when i file ?