Today more than half of the U.S. citizens are taking
advantage of their social security, and those who lack knowledge might be skipping
some of its additional benefits. You do not want to regret getting fewer
benefits as compared to others. To prevent this, you must plan your social
security benefits from the beginning.
First of all, when you consider taking SS benefits, you must first focus
on aspects like
- Marital status
- Life expectancy (depending upon your current health)
- When you are planning to retire
- Do you have a government pension
- Do your partner has a government pension
Social security benefits are not the same and are a vast
topic. There are different amounts distributed, which is determined on the
individual's commence payments. Also, if
you start taking the benefits before you reach the retirement age, which is 65,
then your profits are cut down. The social security administration takes care
of the payments. The SSA calculates the amount based on the highest 35 years
that you pay for your social security taxes. If you are not having this period
of work experience, then the years are average with zeros. In case there were
part-time job hours in the 35 hours later, this is going to be beneficial for you
as the long working hours you have, the higher the average earnings and erase
in the low years.
How to take benefits?
Originally a social security program was designed for the
needy so that they can earn even while they are sick and cannot work and also
when they quickly died after that. Today the life expectancy has increased, and
this is why amounts are also raised.
Once you retire, there are no restrictions on your working, and still,
you enjoy the full amount of social security amount you deserve. There are both
good and bad things, but the social security program is quite beneficial for those
who belong to the disabled category or does not have any other family members
who can earn for the family. Different social security categories benefit all.
You might also lose some of your social security benefits as
you might have to pay taxes on some of the SS payments. SSA also keeps on
making changes and updates in the social security system.
Benefits for divorces
Divorcee benefits are for those who are divorced and are not
remarried for ten years. Also, both the partners must be above 62, and then they
are eligible to collect SS divorcee benefits. There are differences between the married
couple's rules and divorce rules, which you must check on the website. In the
case of married couples, an ex-spouse cannot apply for the benefits to qualify
for the divorced benefits. To receive these benefits, you will have to submit a
divorce decree, marriage certificate, and ex-spouse SS number. If you are
eligible, you will be acquainted to further complete the process.
When you want to apply for divorced spouse SS benefits, take
all your documents and let them verified by an SSA office. They will tell you
what you are qualified for. You do not need to fear of retribution. The best
thing about this benefit is that your ex-spouse will not get aware of what you
are claiming. The reason is that their SS benefit will not get affected by a
single penny. Once the ex-spouse expires, you could be qualified for a survivor
SS benefit. But there is a chance for you that you can start claiming ½ of your
ex-spouse’s benefit and it is for your benefit that you can let your own benefit
increase day by day by getting the deferred credits.
Benefits for married couples- File & Suspend
Of course, there are Social Security benefits for married
partners. Your partner is allowed to gather a spousal benefit that is equal to
½ of your benefit at normal retirement age. As there are different strategies, but
the most popular strategy that can be used by a married couple is File and
Suspend. Under this strategy, the wife is capable of collecting ½ of her
partner’s SS for 4 years. This way, the wife’s SS benefit will be grown by 8
percent every year until she begins claiming her own SS benefit at age 70. In
this case, the husband’s benefit was not impacted at all by his partner getting
his own benefit throughout these 4 years. At the same time, his SS benefit also
raised by 8 percent every year as he postponed getting his benefits until his
age 70.
One more thing you should be conscious of is that there is
no reason to postpone taking Social Security spousal benefits previous your
normal retirement age. Make sure you keep in mind that you will be penalized at
a higher pace to take spousal benefits early as opposed to getting your own
benefit early. The best method of letting your Social Security benefits
continue to grow is for you to take complete advantage of the spousal benefits.
It would be worthy for you if you carry your benefit growing until age 70.
Benefits for widows or survivors
Not only this, there are benefits for you if you are a
widow. If you don’t have all of your forty quarters of disbursing into SS, the
survivor benefits can be accessed by you. Here, you could acquire reduced SS
benefits as soon as age 60 rather than 62. If you are a widow, then you can
remarry after age 60. In this case, the remarriage will not impact survivor benefits.
You should proceed with a smart strategy, which is taking survivor benefits and
letting their own benefit to increase until age 70 and switching to it.
On the overall, if there is any confusion, then taking the
help of the expert who can make you feel prepared for applying to Social
Security benefits in any condition. No matter whether you are a married couple,
a widow, or a divorcee, the conditions may be different, but these may be in your
favor. Take an expert’s opinion now.
