W2R
Moderator Emeritus
Holy cow! OMG!!! Break out the champagne and sparkly water and let's party till we drop! 
I just can hardly believe it, but this morning, what should I see in my checking account but my very first, very unexpected direct deposit from Social Security. 
This was for income I never planned for, and had NO IDEA that I qualified for until those on this forum told me. I admit it. I planned so carefully but somehow dropped the ball and you all helped me to pick it up. The reason it was so unexpected was that I had no idea if the documentation I sent in was sufficient, and I had no idea how much money to expect if it was.
Thanks to those on the forum who pushed me to look into divorced spousal benefits from SS and who pointed out that claiming them at age 66 would not lower the amount I get from SS at age 70 (since I planned to wait until 70 anyway). Somehow I had missed this little loophole. Then Congress was working on eliminating it with verbiage in proposed legislation that was being discussed this spring, but I guess either it was tabled or else I sneaked in under the wire.
I don't remember who it was that strongly suggested that I need to look into this. I think maybe several of you did, including KatsMeow, REWahoo and others. I was reluctant to do so, because I thought it would open a (divorce) can of worms, but it didn't.
The amount of today's direct deposit was huge - - almost the maximum possible. With no explanation of benefits quite yet, I have no idea how much it will settle down to once I start getting a regular monthly amount. I do know my ex had a very good earnings history for SS, and I should expect half of his FRA benefit amount, so I can dream....
I have truly earned money from this forum and I am thankful to all of you in so many ways. No, moderators and admins still do not get a cent for what we do, or any other financial benefit from our volunteer moderating activities, but the suggestions and comments from members posting in threads have been absolutely golden.
Another way in which this forum has helped me tremendously in the past, is that some of you, in particular Rich_by_the_Bay, eloquently persuaded me to continue working until I could qualify for my federal retiree health insurance. I would never have enjoyed retirement nearly so much, if I had been worrying about health insurance before I qualified for Medicare. So, I sincerely thank you for that, Rich, and thank so many other forum members too, for their role in helping me tweek my financial planning through the years.
EDITED TO ADD: For those divorced spouses that are interested in finding out about divorced spousal benefits, here is a great link that I got from somebody here, I believe Katsmeow: http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/divspouse.htm
If you go to that link it has the information you need, about what you can get. On the right hand side of that webpage, there is a link to "Apply Online for Divorced Spouse's Benefits" and that is how I applied.
By the way: Divorced guys can get these benefits too, and it doesn't reduce your ex's benefits at all.
I just can hardly believe it, but this morning, what should I see in my checking account but my very first, very unexpected direct deposit from Social Security. This was for income I never planned for, and had NO IDEA that I qualified for until those on this forum told me. I admit it. I planned so carefully but somehow dropped the ball and you all helped me to pick it up. The reason it was so unexpected was that I had no idea if the documentation I sent in was sufficient, and I had no idea how much money to expect if it was.
Thanks to those on the forum who pushed me to look into divorced spousal benefits from SS and who pointed out that claiming them at age 66 would not lower the amount I get from SS at age 70 (since I planned to wait until 70 anyway). Somehow I had missed this little loophole. Then Congress was working on eliminating it with verbiage in proposed legislation that was being discussed this spring, but I guess either it was tabled or else I sneaked in under the wire.
I don't remember who it was that strongly suggested that I need to look into this. I think maybe several of you did, including KatsMeow, REWahoo and others. I was reluctant to do so, because I thought it would open a (divorce) can of worms, but it didn't.
The amount of today's direct deposit was huge - - almost the maximum possible. With no explanation of benefits quite yet, I have no idea how much it will settle down to once I start getting a regular monthly amount. I do know my ex had a very good earnings history for SS, and I should expect half of his FRA benefit amount, so I can dream....
I have truly earned money from this forum and I am thankful to all of you in so many ways. No, moderators and admins still do not get a cent for what we do, or any other financial benefit from our volunteer moderating activities, but the suggestions and comments from members posting in threads have been absolutely golden.
Another way in which this forum has helped me tremendously in the past, is that some of you, in particular Rich_by_the_Bay, eloquently persuaded me to continue working until I could qualify for my federal retiree health insurance. I would never have enjoyed retirement nearly so much, if I had been worrying about health insurance before I qualified for Medicare. So, I sincerely thank you for that, Rich, and thank so many other forum members too, for their role in helping me tweek my financial planning through the years.
EDITED TO ADD: For those divorced spouses that are interested in finding out about divorced spousal benefits, here is a great link that I got from somebody here, I believe Katsmeow: http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/divspouse.htm
If you go to that link it has the information you need, about what you can get. On the right hand side of that webpage, there is a link to "Apply Online for Divorced Spouse's Benefits" and that is how I applied.
By the way: Divorced guys can get these benefits too, and it doesn't reduce your ex's benefits at all.
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