Made the switch from Divorced Spousal SS to my own SS!

[CRLLS]

Great for you! I love it when a plan comes together

 

[W2R]

Congrats, W2R!

I remember your post when you found out about claiming spousal on the ex's record. Nice surprise!

I turned 62 in Feb 2017 and I check my new benefit number every month. My benefit is quite small, but having waited 13 months it has gone up $60/mo by me not filing yet. I'm planning on waiting until Medicare age to claim.

Good idea! And when you get there, you can always re-assess and see if you want to wait longer or not.

I got Medicare a year before I started SS, and they were happy to just let me pay for it separately since I had no SS to deduct it from. I chose to let them take the monthly Medicare payments from my checking account.

 

[Bamaman]

If someone is of good health and can get by without social security checks, waiting until 70 years of age has been a good investment in recent years.

 

[W2R]

If someone is of good health and can get by without social security checks, waiting until 70 years of age has been a good investment in recent years.

Well, forum members are pretty divided on when the best age is to take SS so I'd rather not get into it on this thread. But in my case, I have always planned to wait until age 70.

 

[aja8888]

Well, Dilly Dilly!!

 

[powerplay]

So happy for you W2R!
You are getting what you worked for and earned so now you can enjoy it and choose to spend more (or not).

I think Amazon stock is going to go up and Prime is going to be BUSY!!

Most of all - ENJOY!

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I'm glad that worked out for you W2R!

 

[W2R]

Well, Dilly Dilly!!

Ha ha!!! Thank you.

So happy for you W2R!
You are getting what you worked for and earned so now you can enjoy it and choose to spend more (or not).

I think Amazon stock is going to go up and Prime is going to be BUSY!!

Most of all - ENJOY!

Ah, you KNOW me... Thank you, and yes I will enjoy having more steady, reliable base income as I grow older.

I'm glad that worked out for you W2R!

Thank you! It is so nice to know that SS and I are on the same page about this.

 

[tmm99]

Hey, good for you! Well done! And you didn't even have to the SS office for it.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Blue Bell Cherry Vanilla, I presume....

 

[ivinsfan]

YAY!!!!



Love you all - - you really understand my joy in seeing a long time plan actually work (not to mention the $$$$, the Bluebell, etc). It's not greed, it's just relief, joy, surprise, you name it.

I should thank those here who actually explained to me that I could get divorced spousal for those 4 years without getting any less SS at age 70 than otherwise. I'm pretty fuzzy on who is was that I should be thanking, ingrate that I am my memory is gappy on exactly who helped me so much here, but I'm pretty sure mainly Katsmeow and maybe also REWahoo were responsible plus probably a few others that I don't recall. Well anyway, you all, you were right, IT WORKED!!!

This will be like getting 2 dental implants/year for free.

Congrats on everything going so smoothly and I will echo your thanks to the members here that talked about this. It does not apply to me but a dear friend of mine who went thru a horrible divorce when she got dumped for another woman and had a douchebag ex who hid assets from her, was able to benefit from it.

Her EX had passed away and she was able to claim survivors benefit on his record at her FRA. She knew nothing about how it works until I read it here and encouraged her to contact SS. She was overwhelmed with the additional income and annoyed at her herself for not being on top of the SS rules.

 

[GravitySucks]

Congratulations!

Oh well - I probably would have wasted the extra money on craft beers anyway.

How's that a waste? Spending it on Bud Light would be the wasteful act.

 

[W2R]

Hey, good for you! Well done! And you didn't even have to the SS office for it.

Yes! I am happy about that aspect of it, too.

Blue Bell Cherry Vanilla, I presume....

I never did go to get that ice cream, but there's no reason I couldn't celebrate today. A pint of Blue Bell Cherry Vanilla is my idea of heaven.

Congrats on everything going so smoothly and I will echo your thanks to the members here that talked about this. It does not apply to me but a dear friend of mine who went thru a horrible divorce when she got dumped for another woman and had a douchebag ex who hid assets from her, was able to benefit from it.

Her EX had passed away and she was able to claim survivors benefit on his record at her FRA. She knew nothing about how it works until I read it here and encouraged her to contact SS. She was overwhelmed with the additional income and annoyed at her herself for not being on top of the SS rules.

How sad for her! She should not feel annoyed with herself. F is a widower and had no idea that he could get a survivor's benefit from SS either, until I told him and sent him the link to apply for it. Many people just don't know about it.

I have gotten such great advice and information from forum members, over the years, in several discussions.

Originally I was going to post about this in the "What did you do today?" thread, but then decided to make a separate thread because it might show up in forum searches on divorced spousal SS benefits if someone is looking for posts on that topic.

 

[ivinsfan]

A good choice to make it a separate topic.

It doesn't apply to everyone, but you are one of the people it does apply to, it can mean a great deal of money.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Hi W2R; Congrats. We are nearly the same age, so its nice to see someone a few months ahead of me successfully go through the process. In my case I filed for spousal at 66 (as opposed to divorced spousal but I think it works the same way). I turn 70 on 12/1, so my first check as a 70 year old will actually come in in the December - the second Wednesday. I have been counting down the months and now have only 8 more "skinny" checks to collect. I've been weighing the idea of when to file for my "fat" checks and conclude from your experience 3-4 months in advance is the correct timing. I'm also aware that I will be getting a new Medicare #. Do you expect to get that card on your birthday? Also do you expect your medicare part B to increase with that first bigger check? My Part B is currently less than the $134 base, as the "hold harmless" provision kept my net check the same this past year.

 

[Moemg]

Congratulations !

 

[W2R]

Congratulations !

Thank you!

 

[mystang52]

W2R - congrats, and enjoy your newfound wealth. Personally, I'm partial to Friendly's Chocolate Fudge Brownie, but enjoy your Blue Bell.
As an aside, for both my SS as well as DW currently collecting under my record, our SS office contacts were nothing short of excellent.

 

[W2R]

Hi W2R; Congrats. We are nearly the same age, so its nice to see someone a few months ahead of me successfully go through the process. In my case I filed for spousal at 66 (as opposed to divorced spousal but I think it works the same way). I turn 70 on 12/1, so my first check as a 70 year old will actually come in in the December - the second Wednesday. I have been counting down the months and now have only 8 more "skinny" checks to collect. I've been weighing the idea of when to file for my "fat" checks and conclude from your experience 3-4 months in advance is the correct timing. I'm also aware that I will be getting a new Medicare #. Do you expect to get that card on your birthday? Also do you expect your medicare part B to increase with that first bigger check? My Part B is currently less than the $134 base, as the "hold harmless" provision kept my net check the same this past year.

It seems like about 3-4 months works pretty nicely. When you apply online, it gives you a range of months to choose from as the starting month for the change in your benefits. I started an application in January, but the last month in that range was May - - so I did not submit the application, waited another month, and then started a new application and was able to select June (my birthday is on June 8th).

I do not know when I will get my new Medicare card, but I verified with the nice SS lady on the phone that she will make sure I get one. My Part B is $134 already; I would imagine that yours will not change, but I do not know that. Or is the "hold harmless" ending for everyone? I don't remember but somehow got that idea. Anyway good luck with that.

I will be getting an "award letter" from SS, that will state in writing how much I will be getting and other details. Maybe it will tell me more about when I will receive my new Medicare card and so on.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow - nice raise! Congrats!

 

[W2R]

W2R - congrats, and enjoy your newfound wealth. Personally, I'm partial to Friendly's Chocolate Fudge Brownie, but enjoy your Blue Bell.
As an aside, for both my SS as well as DW currently collecting under my record, our SS office contacts were nothing short of excellent.

Yumm... I love chocolate!
I know, most SS offices throughout the country are very well run, pleasant, and everything one might hope for. Ours apparently is an anomaly.

Wow - nice raise! Congrats!

Thanks!!! I'm so happy about it. Honestly I did not expect this to be so easy.

 

[whatnot]

Congrats! And Blue Bell is a great way to celebrate!!
Love all your posts and like you have learned a lot on this site.
Roth Backdoor conversions, HSA, etc.
We are on track to retire this year and this site has been my latest addiction!

 

[Lsbcal]

Just want to say I'm happy that your are happy W2R. You earned this one.

 

[Golden sunsets]

It seems like about 3-4 months works pretty nicely. When you apply online, it gives you a range of months to choose from as the starting month for the change in your benefits. I started an application in January, but the last month in that range was May - - so I did not submit the application, waited another month, and then started a new application and was able to select June (my birthday is on June 8th).

I do not know when I will get my new Medicare card, but I verified with the nice SS lady on the phone that she will make sure I get one. My Part B is $134 already; I would imagine that yours will not change, but I do not know that. Or is the "hold harmless" ending for everyone? I don't remember but somehow got that idea. Anyway good luck with that.

I will be getting an "award letter" from SS, that will state in writing how much I will be getting and other details. Maybe it will tell me more about when I will receive my new Medicare card and so on.

I am only paying $125 currently as the gross benefit of my 2018 check only increased by $125 from last year. DH pays $134 because his 2018 benefit increased by more than the new premium rate. I have been assuming that because my new fat check will be substantially more, over $2,000 more, that I will now be charged the full current premium. It's a small matter obviously.

 

[W2R]

Congrats! And Blue Bell is a great way to celebrate!!
Love all your posts and like you have learned a lot on this site.
Roth Backdoor conversions, HSA, etc.
We are on track to retire this year and this site has been my latest addiction!

Thank you! How exciting that you are on track to retire in 2018 - - retirement is even better than I ever imagined. I have learned so much here.

Just want to say I'm happy that your are happy W2R. You earned this one.

Thanks. After all the articles and posts I have read over the years, gloomily predicting that there would be no SS by the time I qualified for it, and so on, I feel vindicated. Finally I will be getting some benefits from those SS contributions that were taken out of my paycheck every payday. It's a good feeling.