OT- Does anyone know anything about social security benefits?

[Uvtha]

Trying to figure out if my mother got hosed or not. My father died a few years ago, and she had decided to wait until she was at full retirement age (which will hit feb 2013) to claim my fathers social security benefit.
After talking to someone who worked in the local social security office she was told that she could start claiming her own SS benefits now with no penalty on my fathers benefits if she waited till full retirement to claim them. So needed the extra money having been laid off at her job she decided to do just that.

Later she was told differently by another representative, who said she would be penalized when taking my dads SS because she took her own SS benefits a year early.

We were just talking about it today, and I was wondering if she going to end up losing out on a lot of money because of bad advice, since when I calculated it when my dad died she would be getting nearly double on my dads full benefits, and it would really hurt if she ends up losing out on a substantial portion.

Anyone have any experience with this kind of thing?

 

[Cerwin Vega]

Im sorry to hear that, I dont have the answer... but it reminds me of a problem I had where one person said something and another person something different. It would be nice to be able to record whats said. You could hope that maybe they recorded the talk for quality or something.

 

[Flutter]

Requirements for survivor benefits

 

[LordDrago]

Unfortunately, I do not know the workings of the Social Security Administration.

However, I do see this on there website:

If you are the widow or widower of a person who worked long enough under Social Security, you can:

• receive full benefits at full retirement age for survivors or reduced benefits as early as age 60.

and also this:

Your survivor benefit amount would be based on the earnings of the person who died. The more he or she paid into Social Security, the higher your benefits would be.
The monthly amount you would get is a percentage of the deceased's basic Social Security benefit. It depends on your age and the type of benefit you would be eligible to receive.
Note: If the person who died was receiving reduced benefits, we base your survivor's benefit on that amount.
The maximum survivors benefit amount is limited to what he or she would receive if they were still alive.
These are examples of the benefits that survivors may receive:

• Widow or widower, full retirement age or older -- 100 percent of the deceased worker's benefit amount;
• Widow or widower, age 60 -- full retirement age -- 71½ to 99 percent of the deceased worker's basic amount;

It sounds like your mother could collect reduced benefits under your father as a survivor until her retirement afe/benefits kick in.

Did your mother receive anything in writing outlining what she was told?

I would try to clarify through the SSA and get it in writing (especially if it works out to your mother's advantage)..otherwise you may want to consult an attorney specializing in Social Security Benefits.

 

[Uvtha]

Unfortunately, I do not know the workings of the Social Security Administration.

However, I do see this on there website:

If you are the widow or widower of a person who worked long enough under Social Security, you can:

• receive full benefits at full retirement age for survivors or reduced benefits as early as age 60.

and also this:


Your survivor benefit amount would be based on the earnings of the person who died. The more he or she paid into Social Security, the higher your benefits would be.
The monthly amount you would get is a percentage of the deceased's basic Social Security benefit. It depends on your age and the type of benefit you would be eligible to receive.
Note: If the person who died was receiving reduced benefits, we base your survivor's benefit on that amount.
The maximum survivors benefit amount is limited to what he or she would receive if they were still alive.
These are examples of the benefits that survivors may receive:

• Widow or widower, full retirement age or older -- 100 percent of the deceased worker's benefit amount;
• Widow or widower, age 60 -- full retirement age -- 71½ to 99 percent of the deceased worker's basic amount;

It sounds like your mother could collect reduced benefits under your father as a survivor until her retirement afe/benefits kick in.


Did your mother receive anything in writing outlining what she was told?

I would try to clarify through the SSA and get it in writing (especially if it works out to your mother's advantage)..otherwise you may want to consult an attorney specializing in Social Security Benefits.

Yeah I saw that site, but I wasn't quite clear on whether or not her taking her own benefits at age 65 would have an effect on her later taking his benefits when she is 66 (full retirement age). I don't know what documentation she has on the matter, we only talked about it briefly as I was wondering what the situation was. Cause if she can't take his, or his is reduced that would be a major problem, especially since she had planned all along to not take any SS until full retirement, and only did so on the advice of this one SS worker.

It doesn't seem like she will be penalized, since she is waiting until full retirement to take his benefits, and the also mentioned that the lady who told her different was not very polite, or helpful, so perhaps that lady was just a bad source of info.

I urged her to talk to someone about it, but I was just curious if there was a rouge financial planner on the boards.

Thanks for the help/info everyone!

 

[Elicia]

MI Crest for you avatar!

I was in the 108th CEWI a long time ago. Now they are called LRSD from what I hear.

i would have been a 35T under the new MOS codes.

108th Military Intelligence Battalion - Unit Pages

 

[RaDian FlGith]

My only comment is that she should resolve the situation now one way or another. If she waits until she's full retirement age to deal with whether or not she can collect her husband's full amount, she may not be able to correct any issue at that point.

 

[Theo_GL]

What is the benefit amount a spouse may be entitled to receive?​

A spouse receives one-half of the retired worker's full benefit unless the spouse begins collecting benefits before full retirement age. If the spouse begins collecting benefits before full retirement age, the amount of the spouse's benefit is reduced by a percentage based on the number of months before he/she reaches full retirement age.
For example, based on the full retirement age of 66, if a spouse begins collecting benefits:

• At age 65, the benefit amount would be about 46 percent of the retired worker's full benefit;
• At age 64, it would be about 42 percent;
• At age 63, 37.5 percent; and
• At age 62, 35 percent.

However, if a spouse is taking care of a child who is either under age 16 or disabled and receives Social Security benefits, a spouse will get full benefits, regardless of age.
If you are eligible for both your own retirement benefit and for benefits as a spouse, we will always pay you benefits based on your record first. If your benefit as a spouse is higher than your retirement benefit, you will receive a combination of benefits equaling the higher spouse's benefits.

 

[Mirt]

MI Crest for you avatar!

I was in the 108th CEWI a long time ago. Now they are called LRSD from what I hear.

i would have been a 35T under the new MOS codes.

108th Military Intelligence Battalion - Unit Pages

They are LRSD now but they are no longer in the MI. They are yet again ******* units.