More on SS claiming strategies

[walkinwood]

This from the Journal of Financial Planning
Understanding Unusual Social Security Claiming Strategies

It talks about two strategies - claim & suspend, and claim now & claim more later. Both apply to married couple. The first is more appropriate when one spouse earned little compared to the other. The second is appropriate for couples who earn similar amounts.

I haven't read it in detail since SS is way in the future for me. But hope it helps those who are making these decisions today.

 

[mickeyd]

Thanks for the link wiw. Very interesting read.

This caught my eye~

We estimate the potential cost of allowing couples the option of “claim and suspend” to be about $0.5 billion dollars a year, while that of “claim now, claim more later” to be around $10 billion a year. It is possible that policymakers may evaluate these strategies as they look to trim expenses by reducing cost increasing provisions to ensure they are consistent with the basic goals of the Social Security program.

I am curremtly participating in what is called "claim now, claim more later" as DW is 4 years younger that I and has a lower SS benefit. I had no idea that this cost the SSA $10B annually! I thought that it was a really good deal for us, but had no idea that the total was that much EACH year.

With same sex-marriage claims being acceptable and the magnatude of this "claim now, claim more later" drain being so much, Congress may want to assess this benefit as it seems skewed.

The final sentence of the study emphasizes this.

This cost will climb sharply as large numbers of baby boomer couples start retiring and the strategy gains popularity.

 

[Chuckanut]

Thanks for the link wiw. Very interesting read.
With same sex-marriage claims being acceptable and the magnatude of this "claim now, claim more later" drain being so much, Congress may want to assess this benefit as it seems skewed.

The final sentence of the study emphasizes this.

Sort of like spiking the pension.

 

[Koolau]

Thanks for the link wiw. Very interesting read.

This caught my eye~



I am curremtly participating in what is called "claim now, claim more later" as DW is 4 years younger that I and has a lower SS benefit. I had no idea that this cost the SSA $10B annually! I thought that it was a really good deal for us, but had no idea that the total was that much EACH year.

With same sex-marriage claims being acceptable and the magnatude of this "claim now, claim more later" drain being so much, Congress may want to assess this benefit as it seems skewed.

The final sentence of the study emphasizes this.

With our $17T national debt, $10B seems like the proverbial drop in a bucket. Even though SS is "funded" separately, it all still falls to the bottom line at some point. Just sayin'. Obviously, YMMV.

 

[Spanky]

Could you claim spousal benefit before your spouse actually claim his/her own?

 

[timo2]

This from the Journal of Financial Planning
Understanding Unusual Social Security Claiming Strategies

It talks about two strategies - claim & suspend, and claim now & claim more later. Both apply to married couple. The first is more appropriate when one spouse earned little compared to the other. The second is appropriate for couples who earn similar amounts.

I haven't read it in detail since SS is way in the future for me. But hope it helps those who are making these decisions today.

Interesting article. the primary sections of the article that got my attention (in a negative way) was the repeated emphasis on 'keep working'..until FRA...until 70..until whenever.

 

[mickeyd]

With our $17T national debt, $10B seems like the proverbial drop in a bucket. Even though SS is "funded" separately, it all still falls to the bottom line at some point. Just sayin'. Obviously, YMMV.

You're not suggesting that the federal government should not take all measures to reduce unnecessary expenses are you? LBYM.

 

[mickeyd]

Sort of like spiking the pension.

I was unfamiliar with that term. I now agree with your statement.

Pension spiking, sometimes referred to as "salary spiking",[1] is the process whereby public sector employees grant themselves large raises or otherwise artificially inflate their compensation in the years immediately preceding retirement in order to receive larger pensions than they otherwise would be entitled to receive. This inflates the pension payments to the retirees and, upon retirement of the "spikee", transfers the burden of making payments from the employee's employer to a public pension fund. This practice is considered a significant contributor to the high cost of public sector pensions.

 

[Spanky]

Could you claim spousal benefit before your spouse actually claim his/her own?

In case anyone wants to know:
You cannot collect a spousal benefit until your spouse files for their own benefit.

 

[gerntz]

We're the cn,cml camp. And this doesn't mention the surviving spouse increased benefit of the high earner waiting longer.