Any social security experts out there???

[mom-from-missouri]

OK, short version.....I worked from 1980 to 2006 full time, paid into ss all that time. I became a stay at home mom mid 2006 when I remarried, but worked part time from 2006 to mid 2014, so had some taken out for ss (did some sub teaching, some prn work for various fire stations and ambulance services....., but made only a couple thousand each year). Nov lf 2014 I re-entered the work force full time....

2 of my children still get ss from their father who passed away. While talking to the ss office, a worker there told me that as a stay at home mom, I could pay into social security myself, or my husband could hire me and pay into it?????

I hate working outside the home again, and am considering doing childcare again.

So, I called the social security office today, to see how to pay into ss myself if I did do this. (I assumed I would be doing it as self employed).....anyway, today I was told no way I or my husband could pay into it. I was also told that if I did childcare, the childs parents are required to pay into it by law.....I don't think that is correct....perhaps if I was a nanny at their house, but not if they come to mine...

I will also add that we also farm. I was told that because we farm, I could do this (I do or did, rather a lot of the work myself before my husband got laid off earlier this year)


I called ss back again...and got a non english speaking rep...

Opinions???

[happygirl]

I'm definitely not an expert, but a friend has a licensed day care in her home and I believe she has to pay taxes and social security, as it is a business. She gives payment statements to the parents she provides her service to so they can use the child care credit as well. She also writes off a part of her mortgage since certain rooms in her house are only used for daycare. She writes off certain groceries as well since they are used for her business.

[Drake3287]

Also not a SS expert but, I know people that qualify as farmers fall into an entire different category under both SS and IRS filing. I also believe you can't pay your own SS tax. I had a relative that needed to do this because she didn't have enough quarters and wasn't employed (stay at home mom) so she ended up having another relative who owned a business hire her on paper only just so they could pay her SS tax. She in turn just payed the other relative back. Screwy and illegal but it worked. She ended up dying shortly after reaching SS age anyway!

I've found over the years that when you call a place with an important technical question like to the SS office, IRS, DMV and places like that I always get different answers from different people. I've found that it's easier to call a couple of times and talk to different employees until I get two of the same answers! It's sad that people are forced to do this.

[GrimJack]

The basic qualification is to have earned a certain amount during any 40 quarters over the last 35 years. This is just 'in general'; you seem to be almost there - go to SSA.GOV, follow the steps and create an account for yourself so you will know for sure. Remember, all your work for the last 35 years counts so if you worked for the summer during high school, or intermittently it could count towards your 40 quarters.

Once you have created the account, you will have access to all of your work history and will be able to see a list of your income for the years that you worked. If an ex-husband worked and earned enough to qualify for SS, then you could possibly claim part of that. The only way to know what you qualify for is to sign up.