By Mary Beth Franklin
Women tend to live longer than men, meaning
they spend more time in retirement and often do so with less savings, given
their lower average lifetime earnings. They are also more likely to live alone
in old age due to widowhood or divorce. Consequently, women represent more than
half of all Social Security beneficiaries age 62 and older and two-thirds of
all beneficiaries over the age of 85.
Here are the top 10 things women need to know about Social Security benefits.
(Updated March 2018 with 2018 earnings test limits.)
Here are the top 10 things women need to know about Social Security benefits.
(Updated March 2018 with 2018 earnings test limits.)
You Earned It
If you work for at least 10 years and earn a
minimum of 40 work credits, you are entitled to a Social Security retirement
benefit as early as age 62 or disability benefits even sooner if you can’t work
because of severe illness or injury. Retirement benefits are based on your
highest 35 years of earnings. If you work less than that, the zero earnings
years in the 35-year-calculation will reduce your retirement benefit.
Marriage benefit
If you are married, you may be entitled to
Social Security retirement benefits, both on your own work record and as a
spouse. A spousal benefit is worth between one-third and one-half of the
husband’s benefit, depending on your age at time of claim. In most cases, you
would be paid the higher of the two benefits, not both.
Disappearing opportunity
If you were born on or before Jan. 1, 1954,
you are eligible to claim only spousal benefits on your husband’s earnings
record when you turn 66, allowing your own retirement benefits to continue to
grow by 8% per year up to age 70. Younger workers will never have this choice.
Whenever they file for Social Security, they will be “deemed” to file for all
available benefits and would be paid the higher of the two amounts.
Same-sex marriage
Lesbian couples are entitled to the same
Social Security benefits as heterosexual couples. Couples must be married at
least one year to claim benefits as a spouse. If entitled to benefits on your
own earnings record and as a spouse, you would be paid the higher of the two
amounts. But if you were born on or before Jan. 1, 1954, you have the option to
claim only spousal benefits at 66 and switch to your own larger retirement
benefits at 70.
Collect on your ex
If you were married at least 10 years, are
divorced and currently single, you may be able to collect Social Security
benefits on your ex’s earnings record. And if you have been divorced at least
two years and both former spouses are at least 62 years old, you can collect
benefits as an “independently entitled spouse” even if your ex has not yet
claimed benefits. But to collect only spousal benefits while your own benefits
keep growing up until age 70, you must have been born on or before Jan. 1,
1954.
Caregiving spouse
If your husband is collecting either Social
Security retirement or disability benefits and you are caring for his minor
child under age 16 or a permanently disabled adult child, you may be eligible
for a spousal benefit regardless of your age. Once the youngest child turns 16,
you will lose your benefits until you qualify for retirement benefits as early
as age 62.
Survivors have choices
If you are entitled to a Social Security
retirement benefit on your own earnings record and you are a surviving spouse,
you can choose whether to collect your retirement or survivor benefit first and
switch to the other benefit later if it would result in a larger amount.
Reduced survivor benefits are available as early as age 60. Full benefits —
worth 100% of what your late husband was collecting or entitled to collect at
time of death — are available at your full retirement age (FRA) but they do not
grow larger if you wait beyond FRA to collect them. However, retirement
benefits increase by 8% per year for every year you postpone collecting them
beyond FRA.
Public employees offset
Public employees, including teachers, in about
a dozen states are not covered by Social Security. If you have a public pension
based on work where you did not pay FICA taxes and your try to collect Social
Security benefits as a spouse or survivor, those benefits could be reduced or
wiped out by the Government Pension Offset provision. The rule reduces any
potential Social Security benefits by two-thirds of the amount of the public
pension.
Earnings test
Anyone who collects any type of Social
Security benefits — as a worker, spouse or widow — before full retirement age
while continuing to work could lose some or all of their benefits to the
earnings test. They would forfeit $1 in benefits for every $2 earned over
$17,040 in 2018. Any benefits lost to the earnings cap would be reinstated at
full retirement age in the form of higher monthly benefits.
New suspension rules
If you are collecting benefits on your
husband’s earnings record and he decides to suspend his benefits at full
retirement age to earn delayed retirement credits, beware that your spousal
benefits would stop, too. Under new rules that took effect last year, anyone
can still suspend benefits at full retirement age, but no one can collect
benefits on that worker’s record during the suspension. There is an exception
for divorced spouses. If an ex-spouse suspends benefits, it will not affect the
benefits of a former spouse.
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