Ask Larry

I'm 65 and receive survivor's benefits. I I'm selling my house will it affect my SS

Hi. No. Selling a home does not affect Social Security retirement, disability or survivor benefits.

Best, Jerry

How can I find out if my husband is alive or deceased

Hi. My expertise is limited only to Social Security benefits, so I can only tell you what information Social Security could release to you. Social Security receives notices of death from funeral directors and state death indexes. If you potentially qualify for benefits based on your husband's Social Security record, then Social Security could inform you what options you have with regard to applying for auxiliary (e.g. spousal) or survivor benefits. However, if you don't know your husband's Social Security number then you would need to be able to give Social Security enough background information (e.g. birth date, place of birth, etc.) for them to locate his records.

Best, Jerry

I applied for both SS benefits and CPP to be effective Jan 1, 2023. Both were approved in January, and when CPP is subjected to WEP, however, the deduction in SS is higher by about $71US than one half of the CPP benefit after being converted to $US. This appears to be a result of SSA relying on the Web Calculator to arrive at WEP PIA, rather than simply subtracting 50% of the CPP in $US from the PIA.

Can you advise how to approach SSA to reconcile $71 a month difference in benefit? It is a substantial amount over the life time.

Thank you.

SS

Hi. The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) guarantee formula is more complex than simply subtracting 50% of your non-covered pension amount from your U.S. Social Security benefit rate. The specific calculations involved are outlined in the following section of Social Security's operations manual: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300605370.

With regard to the foreign exchange rate, if your first month of concurrent eligibility to CPP and U.S. Social Security was January 2023, Social Security should use the exchange rate in effect on January 1 2023. Links to the calculator(s) used can be found in part D of the following section of Social Security's operations manual: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300605372.

I can't tell you whether or not the math was done correctly in your case, but if you think that your benefit rate may have been incorrectly computed then filing an appeal would probably be your best recourse (https://www.ssa.gov/apply/appeal-decision-we-made).

Best, Jerry

Get What's Yours Chapter 12 Advantage 5, says that the reduction in benefits for disabled widows goes away at FRA.
Yet every person I contacted at SSA and other SS advisors/experts seem to think that one reduced, the reduction stays in place.
Assume a person is under 60 and receiving DIB and their disability is expected to continue until after FRA
Assume that their DIB/PIA is much smaller than their potential WIB/DWB benefit
If a person initally on DIB subsequently files for DWB prior to age 60, does the reduction in DWB go away at their FRA?
If a sperson initially on DIB files for WIB after age 60 (but prior to FRA) does the reduction of WIB benefits go away at FRA?

Thanks

Hi. As the book points out, the reduction for age applied to widow's or disabled widow''s benefits (DWB) for starting them prior to full retirement age (FRA) only goes away at FRA if the widow was entitled to Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits in their first month of entitlement to widow's benefits or DWB.

Therefore, the answer to both of the questions you pose is yes. Since both the widow and the disabled widow in your questions were already drawing SSDI when they became entitled to reduced survivor benefits, the reduction in their survivor rates would be removed at FRA when their SSDI benefits automatically convert to regular Social Security retirement benefits.

By the way, if a Social Security employee tells you differently, you should refer them to section RS 00615.350.C.3 of the Social Security operations manual (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300615350).

Best, Jerry

Both my parents are 80. My dad worked 30 years and is getting around $1100 in social security, my mom never worked and is getting $500 spousal benefit-- they are married for over 50 years. If Dad dies what would my never worked mom's benefit be? And if mom dies, would her $500 spousal benefit stop and Dad would just have his own benefit?

Hi. If your father dies first, your mother's spousal benefits would convert to widow's benefits. Her widow's rate would be essentially equal to your father's monthly benefit rate. If your mother dies first, then her spousal benefits would stop and your father would just continue to draw his normal benefit amount.

Best, Jerry

My FRA is November 2023. I benefit by taking half of my spouse's social security versus taking my own. If I take my first payment in November 2023, the 2022 COLA applied to the year 2023 (8.7%) isn't included in my spouse's PIA. If I wait until January 2024 to take my first payment, will I benefit by 8.7%? The payback is only 24 months if this is true.

Hi. As long as your husband was born before January 2 1961, your spousal benefit rate will include the recent 8.7% cost of living (COLA) increase regardless of when you start drawing benefits. If he was born after January 1 1961, then your spousal rate won't include the 8.7% COLA no matter when you apply.

You should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare and analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry

My spouse died in 2020 when we both were age 63 (both born in 1956), and we were both working. I continued and still continue to work and am now age 67. I collected nothing from Social Security (we both qualified for benefits) until my full age of 66 as a survivor, when I began the larger benefit, the survivor benefit. I never collected on my own record. I am trying to get an appointment to see if my benefit would ever grow as large as the survivor benefit (at the time of filing, they told me likely it wouldn't). Am I able to collect any "back" Social Security on my own record? I didn't collect a reduced benefit on my own record, as I thought my own might possibly grow larger if I waited. Thank you!

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. At this point, it would be too late to apply for retroactive reduced benefits from your own record. The maximum retroactivity allowed on an application is 6 months prior to the application month, and you can't claim benefits retroactively for months prior to your full retirement age (FRA). So, if you apply in May 2023 for your own Social Security retirement benefits, for example, the earliest that you could claim benefits is November 2022, assuming that you were already at least FRA at that time. And, you wouldn't be due any additional benefits for those months unless your own benefit rate is higher than the survivor benefit amount that you were already paid for those months.

Whether or not you could have been paid reduced benefits prior to FRA had you applied for them timely depends on how much you were earning. Until a person reaches FRA, some or all of their benefits must be withheld if they earn more than the Social Security earnings test exempt amount (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html).

The only way that I can think of that might allow you to be paid benefits from your own account for months prior to your FRA is if you applied for survivor benefits in advance, and before the month you reached FRA. That would have established a protective filing date for any and all Social Security benefits for which you were eligible, and that application date could potentially be used to allow you to claim your own retirement benefits for months prior to when your survivor benefits started. However, even if there was a possibility of claiming your retirement benefits prior to entitlement month to survivor benefits, it might not be advantageous to do so if your own age 70 rate would be higher than your survivor benefit rate. In that case, it would likely be a better strategy to simply wait until age 70 to claim your own benefits.

The simple fact of the matter is that I don't have enough information about your situation to be able to give you any reliable advice. It sounds like you should probably consider making an appointment with Social Security to speak with a claims representative or technical expert regarding your options. They would have access to all of the information needed to explain your options to you.

Best, Jerry

I filed for and received survivor benefits at age 60, I'm currently 61. I Went back to work and suspended the payments due to earnings. Do these benefits continue to accrue? How do they accrue? I'm planning to retire at 70 to maximize my own benefits but would like to know my best strategy (maximum $) for claiming both my survivor benefits and personal benefits. Thanks for your help.

Hi. I'm not sure what you mean by 'accrue', but benefits lost to the Social Security earnings test are not accumulated and returned to the person later. What happens instead is that the reduction for age applied to your benefit amount is later adjusted to account for any months that benefits weren't payable due to the earnings test.

For example, say that Bob applied for widower benefits at age 60. Bob's full retirement age (FRA) survivor rate would have been $1000, but his age 60 rate is reduced for age to by 28.5% to $715. Bob continues working and due to his earnings his benefits, he ends up only being paid benefits for half of the months between his first month of entitlement and his FRA. In that case, Bob's widower rate would be adjusted effective with FRA to remove half of the original 28.5% reduction for age, raising his monthly benefit rate to $857.50.

By the way, you can't voluntarily suspend your survivor benefits. If your earnings are above the Social Security earnings test limits then your benefits can be involuntarily suspended, but you can't refuse to accept any benefits that are still payable after accounting for the earnings test withholding.

You're probably on solid ground with your original strategy to apply for survivor benefits at age 60 and then switch to your own benefits at age 70, assuming that your own age 70 benefit rate will be higher than your unreduced survivor benefit rate. However, you may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare and analyze all of your various options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry

I am 57 divorcing my 70 year old spouse. We have a 13 year old son. I am receiving a child in care spouse annuity . Child lives with me. I understand he will receive 50% of father's PIA when divorce is final. I may receive 30% of husbands PIA right. (50% + 30% = 80% of family maximum) which families can get 180% right. My 30% will stop when child turns 16, right? Child's continues until May of 2008 because he graduates high school. He turns 18 in October 2007. I turn age 62 in February of 2008 so now I qualify for divorced ss benefits. Now since my child is still receiving benefits, do I now qualify for unreduced divorced spouse benefits? We were married 28 years and I was stay home mom. Thank You!!

Hi. Wrong. You can't qualify for divorced spousal benefits prior to age 62 even if you have an entitled child in your care (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.03/handbook-0311.html). Since your marriage has lasted at least 10 years, though, you could apply for re-entitlement to divorced spousal benefits as early as age 62.

If you claim divorced spousal benefits at any time prior to your full retirement age (FRA), your benefit rate will be reduced for age unless you have a child in your care who is either a) under age 16, or b) is disabled and qualifies for disabled adult child (DAC) benefits based on 1) a mental disability, or 2) a physical disability that requires you to perform personal services for the child (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0301310040). Therefore, if your child is age 16 or older and is not disabled, you won't be able to qualify for unreduced divorced spousal benefits prior to your FRA even if he is still drawing benefits on your ex-spouse's account.

You may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare and analyze all of your filing options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry

Child benefits vs Child-in-care spouse benefits. I just applied for retirement benefits as I'm turning 62 this summer. We have triplet 11 year old kids. Today I visited the SSA office and applied for child's benefits on behalf of my kids. However your Maximize My Social Security Planner shows that my wife should file for Child-in-care spouse's benefits as well. The SSA rep stated that if my wife applies for child-in-care spouse's benefits, her share would proportionally reduce what my kids would receive. Furthermore when our kids turn age 16, the child-in-care spouse's benefits goes away, but the amount the children will receive from 16-18 years of age will not proportionally increase. Is this correct? In other words, by applying for spouse child-in-care benefits, the kids would receive a reduced child benefit, and even though the spouse child-in-care benefit expires when the kids turn 16, their reduced benefit would not increase back to what it would have if my wife had not applied for the spouse child-in-care benefit in the first place. The SSA rep made it seem like there was no reason to apply for the spouse child-in-care benefit, as it would reduce the total benefit received by our family in the long run. Is this correct?

Hi. It is true that if you have 3 children collecting benefits then their total benefit rate will be reduced proportionately by the amount of your wife's benefit rate if she applies for child in care spousal benefits. In other words, the total amount payable would remain the same, being split 4 ways instead of 3. However, if the Social Security representative told you that your children's benefit rates would not increase if and when your wife no longer qualifies for benefits, that is false. What would in fact happen in that event is that the total amount payable to your family would stay the same, with the total amount payable to your auxiliaries (i.e. wife or children) then being split 3 ways instead of 4.

Therefore, although in your case there may no advantage for your wife to apply for child in care spousal benefits, no family benefits will be lost if she does so. I should explain that although I answer questions submitted to this forum, I don't have access to our software customer's information. Software customers are encouraged to submit questions using an online contact form from the help menu. You may want to resubmit your question using the help menu so that one of our experts with access to your data can clarify whether or not it would be advisable for your wife to apply for benefits.

Best, Jerry