Social Security Benefits

**UpstateNY86** · 12-11-2012, 10:40 AM

or better off not working and just getting 50% of spousal ss? because the 40 credits will be low wage.

**bjl584** · 12-11-2012, 11:01 AM

Start here:

Benefit Calculators

**thesimplemoneyblog** · 12-12-2012, 04:09 AM

As bjl584 indicated, go to the SS website to calculate her current benefits and come up with an estimate. Each person is unique with respect to the benefit they receive depending on their year born, when they begin collecting Social Security, and their earnings while working, so there isn't too much of an estimate we could provide here. Depending on the benefits she may be entitled to, one strategy maybe for her to actually collect on her record for a period of time and then switch to her husband's record at 50% (provided they were married for 10 years).

**Gailete** · 12-12-2012, 11:23 AM

provided they were married for 10 years).

I believe that only applies if they get divorced at some point. If not it doesn't matter how long they are married when one spouse dies the other, if and when they are old enough, can get a spouses portion.

How old is your mom and does she have health insurance of any kind? Is she capable of working and what skills does she have? If she can get a job she should try for full time with benefits. It would not only help her get insurance till she needs to retire but would boost her personal SS benefits when she starts collecting them and give her more money to live on in the meantime. Of course if your dad left her very well provided for and she really doesn't need to work, that is something else to think about. If she has to support herself for a whole lot of years yet, then thinking only of making $1100 at a time is pointless, she needs to earn enough to live on unless you are planning on subsidizing her.

**UpstateNY86** · 12-12-2012, 06:04 PM

She is not financially well, but figuring to get a nice chunk in inerhitance(200k).

**thesimplemoneyblog** · 12-13-2012, 04:22 AM

Originally posted by Gailete View Post

I believe that only applies if they get divorced at some point. If not it doesn't matter how long they are married when one spouse dies the other, if and when they are old enough, can get a spouses portion.

Sorry, yes, please let me clarify. The OP didn't specify if the mom was married (based on the phrasing, I'm assuming this isn't the case), widowed, or divorced, so I had made an assumption that they were divorced. In the case of divorce it would require 10 years of marriage to qualify on the former husband's record. In the case that she is a widow, she would be potentially eligible to collect the full amount of the deceased husband's record, but yes you are correct Gailete that there isn't the 10 year requirement for a survivor.

UpstateNY, another good resource is the Social Security website for some more specifics on survivor's benefits if they apply: Survivors Benefits - Social Security Publication 05-10084

**Gailete** · 12-13-2012, 07:49 AM

She is not financially well, but figuring to get a nice chunk in inerhitance(200k).

How old is your mom? Does she have to pay a mortgage or pay off other debts with the inheritance? Those questions go a long way to see what she needs to be doing. If she has to go 10 years until she is eligible for SS then she only has about $20K a year to live on and that isn't much especially if she has a mortgage and hasn't got insurance through work or another source. MC doesn't kick in until 65 unless she is disabled.

**Petunia 100** · 12-13-2012, 09:03 AM

Originally posted by UpstateNY86 View Post

She is not financially well, but figuring to get a nice chunk in inerhitance(200k).

It is a nice chunk of money, but it isn't a whole lot to retire on. Often when people receive a large lump sum like this, they miscalculate how far it will go, as it does seem like a fortune.

Using the standard safe withdrawal rate of 4%, if you invest 200k in a diversified mix of low-cost stock and bond funds, you can draw 8k the first year, and adjust upward for inflation a bit each year. That is $666.67 per month. Not nothing, but also not enough to live on comfortably. Spend some of the 200k paying off credit cards, buying a car, or taking a trip and it will provide even less. Draw down at a faster rate and the odds begin to rise that you will run out of money completely in your lifetime.

Also, things may not go as expected. Perhaps your mom's parent (an assumption on my part) will need some of that money to pay for medical care. Perhaps your mom will inherit less than expected.

If your mom is able to work, she should look for a full-time job and improve her financial situation as best she can while she still has time to do so.

**UpstateNY86** · 12-13-2012, 09:15 AM

Thanks for the replies. She is married, just kind of wierd as they are seperated. No plan on divorce though. She has no idea of financial stuff and absolutely hates investmants as my dad got crushed in the stock market and she always told him to sell. (He turned 50k into 1 millplus during the dot com boom). I will try and help her as best as i could, but she is just real lazy.
THANKS

**kv968** · 12-13-2012, 10:16 AM

Originally posted by UpstateNY86 View Post

Thanks for the replies. She is married, just kind of wierd as they are seperated. No plan on divorce though. She has no idea of financial stuff and absolutely hates investmants as my dad got crushed in the stock market and she always told him to sell. (He turned 50k into 1 millplus during the dot com boom). I will try and help her as best as i could, but she is just real lazy.
THANKS

How old are your mom and dad and has your dad filed for SSI yet?

**UpstateNY86** · 12-13-2012, 10:30 AM

mom is 53 dad is 56..he is still working.

**Gailete** · 12-13-2012, 11:19 AM

mom is 53 dad is 56..he is still working.

Doesn't matter is dad is still working unless he is throwing living expenses her way (which unless she is in a state that gives separated people maintenance amounts that must be stuck to, he could quit that any time he wanted to) and is covering her on his health insurance and then it might be only for 18 months worth of COBRA. If there was an actual divorce, he might actually be bound to pay for her health insurance until she is eligible for Medicare. Why do I harp on health insurance? One sickness that requires hospitalization can wipe out a good chunk of that inheritance and it will then go less far than you would have hoped. One chronic disease can wipe you completely out with all the testing, etc.

Sorry to say this, but mom has to stop being lazy (in whatever manner you meant). She has 9 years till she can take the earliest retirement through SS at age 62. I don't know if she falls into the new age brackets for full SS but she might so she may be looking at 13 years till then. Your mom needs to find a full time job hopefully with benefits because even if she is covered by your dad, if he dies that stops following 18 months of COBRA. She needs as much full time work as possible to boost her OWN SS benefits as the amount she will get off your dad's benefits is chicken feed when it comes to the cost of living. I get an above average check (LOL), but it is just barely above and I wouldn't want to have to try living on it with nothing else. Depending on what all she has to deal with financially, it still comes down to the more she can earn and sock away the better and whether she wants to or not, she has to take responsibility for her finances herself. If needed teach her how to balance her checkbook, get a savings account going, explain IRA's and 401Ks to her. Whether she likes the stock market it or not, tucking the money in a savings account will mean she will run out of money to live on long before she is ready to die. Try to get her on this forum of a similar one to be learning herself.

If she is thinking of only working to cover those last few quarters she needs to get benefits, it just isn't going to be enough, not for a woman whose husband at one point had them at least on paper being millionaires. I suspect her standard of living is a lot hirer than the minimum SS benefit. When my sister was declared disabled after 25 years of running her own daycare (for too cheap prices IMHO) her check was about $300 a month. I had worked as a nurse for 14 years and ended up with 4 times what she did (and like I said even now with the COLA raises it still is barely a livable amount if I wasn't married). How much you make when you can makes a HUGE difference in your check and rather than thinking of how little you can get away with, think about how much you can make instead.

**kv968** · 12-13-2012, 01:22 PM

Originally posted by UpstateNY86 View Post

mom is 53 dad is 56..he is still working.

Reason I asked is to see if she could get the spousal benefit but since they're both not old enough for SSI she can't.

When she does reach retirement age however she'll probably be better off doing that when he files since he's presumably worked the whole time and she hasn't. Even if they're divorced she'll qualify as long as she doesn't remarry.

**Gailete** · 12-13-2012, 02:30 PM

Some factoids straight from the source.

As a widow:
The benefit amount is based on the earnings of the person who died. The more the worker paid into Social Security, the greater your benefits will be.
Social Security uses the deceased worker�s basic benefit amount and calculates what percentage survivors are entitled to. The percentage depends on the survivors� ages and relationship to the worker. If the person who died was receiving reduced benefits, your survivor�s benefit is based on that amount. Here are the most typical situations:
� A widow or widower, at full retirement age or older, generally receives 100 percent of the worker�s basic benefit amount;
� A widow or widower, age 60 or older, but under full retirement age, receives about 71-99 percent of the worker�s basic benefit amount; or

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a separated/divorced or regular spouse:
Even if he or she has never worked under Social Security, your spouse
� can begin collecting the benefits as early as age 62. However, if the benefit begins early, the amount will be permanently reduced by a percentage based on the number of months up to his or her full retirement age.
� can qualify on your record for Medicare at age 65.
� can receive a benefit equal to one-half of your full retirement amount if they start receiving benefits at their full retirement age.
(bolding mine - I also only copied what seemed applicable)

Social Security Benefits