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October 7, 2023
Will my child get benefits?
Children may be eligible for benefits if their parent is receiving a Social Security benefit or if that parent has passed away. These benefits are auxiliary benefits in addition to the regular benefit rate and are usually paid to the custodial parent. Children’s benefits are payable until age 18 or until the child graduates high school, up to age 19 and 2 months. All of your natural children are eligible whether they reside with you or not and some step children are also eligible. The amount payable to each child depends if it is a life or survivor case. In life cases, a child’s benefit cannot exceed 50 percent of your full rate, or 75 percent in survivor cases. There is a maximum payable on your record that cannot be exceeded. Example: your benefit is 1000.00, the maximum on the record is 2000.00 In this scenario with a life case having one child, that child will get 500.00, the full half of your rate since the combined amounts of yours 1000.00 plus the child’s 500.00 does not exceed the maximum payable of 2000.00. If there were three children on this record they would all get 333.00. They cannot all get 500.00 since the total benefits payable on your record would then exceed 2000.00. There is only 1000.00 above your benefit payable to the auxiliaries so that amount is divided equally among them. In same scenario but a survivor case, one child would receive 750.00 (75% of your rate), three 666.00. Once again, the maximum cannot be exceeded. If your child is found to be disabled prior to age 22, they can remain entitled on your record into adulthood. If you are approaching age 62 and have minor children, you will need to factor in their additional income to your household when making your retirement plans. Maryellen Eckert EDPNA
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July 7, 2023
Do you need representation for SSA claims?
SSA streamlined the retirement application for online filing and while the questions posed seem very straight forward, how they are answered can make the difference on how much return you get on your SSA account. SSA employees will not provide you with any advice on what your most advantageous month of entitlement or how your retirement severance package or date you pick for your retirement retire can impact your total benefits received for the year. These are just a couple examples of what can impact your total benefits. The employees are there to safe guard the trusts, ensure you meet factors of entitlement, and process your claim, not help you maximize your return. You are entitled to have an attorney or certified non attorney represent you before the administration. Be sure any attorney you select has experience in SSA law. SSA requires certified non attorney reps to pass a rigorous exam, a background check, verifies credentials, and holds them accountable with ethical standards. All representatives must be approved by the administration. SSA also controls how representatives are paid. You cannot choose to pay someone directly to represent you, they have to be certified as qualified by SSA and submit requests for fees to be approved by SSA to receive payment. Currently, for disability the maximum a representative can receive is 7200.00 or 25 % of retroactive benefits – whichever is less. This means your disability representative makes more money the longer the decision takes. Anyone can be paid by a third party such as financial advisors, insurance companies, and social media apps without SSA review of fees. Social media content is now being created posting information in short video sound bites, and being paid by miscellaneous social media applications. Be very wary of any content or advice you hear in these venues. Be sure to source that the creator is actually competent. Be extra wary if they are trying to sell you anything. Typically any “free” brochures or hand outs from any source are free from SSA directly. As with any industry today, fraud and misinformation is rampant and you need to be your own best advocate, know your source and verify the information with a professional you are confident has appropriate credentials or has sourced their SSA information from a competent source. Maryellen Eckert SSA Specialist
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April 7, 2023
How marriage affects your SSA entitlement
You may be familiar with SSA spousal eligibility. If you’re currently married with at least one year duration of marriage or the biological parent of their child, you are eligible as a spouse on their SSA record if your primary rate (rate payable at full retirement age) is less than half of your spouse’s primary rate. So what happens in the event of a divorce? You are still eligible on your spouse’s earnings record if the duration of your marriage was over 10 years AND the divorce is final for at least 2 years. SSA is not restricted in entitling a divorce spouse based on any state divorce decree, it is a federal entitlement. No number holder can prevent a divorced spouse from filing on their earnings record and the entitlement of a divorced spouse does not affect any current spouse or child potential benefit rates on the same earnings record. What happens if your spouse dies? You are eligible for a widow(er) benefit at age 60, you do not have to wait until 62. If you are disabled, you are eligible on their record as early as age 50. To receive survivor benefits you must meet 9 months duration of marriage unless an exception applies, such as accidental death or death in the line of military duty. So, now you’ve met someone and are thinking of remarriage. For survivors, remarriage over age 60 does NOT affect entitlement. What does this mean? If your entitled as a widow(er) and you remarry, the new marriage does not terminate your widow(er) benefit. You could become eligible as a spouse on your new spouse’s earnings record or have a possible higher widow(er) rate from the new spouse should they predecease you. Some people find themselves in possible triple entitlement situations, where they are the survivor of 2 or more spouses. If this occurs, the SSA rep should provide all benefit rates payable to you and typically entitle you to the most beneficial first with possibility of even higher entitlement at age 70 on your own earnings record. I have had clients state they want nothing from a particular spouse and are not interested in filing on their record due to personal reasons. SSA should present you with the benefit rate regardless of any personal disdain, sometimes that spouse is the highest benefit rate payable. I have never experienced any applicant restrict entitlement to a lower benefit record once they were aware of the higher one. Be sure you get all of your options prior to any final decisions. As always, be mindful of any SSA eligibility as you plan your retirement, reach out if you have further questions. Maryellen Eckert SSA Specialist
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December 7, 2022
Spousal Filing Options
“When should I start my benefit?” This was one of the most common questions I received in my career. My answer has always been the same, “tell me when your going to die and I’ll tell you when to file” – with the exception of spousal entitlement. It is common for high-end wage earners to postpone entitlement to receive a higher monthly benefit while drawing income from a separate source to increase their SSA entitlement. The longer you wait the higher your benefit will be as well as any widow(er) subsequently entitled on your earnings record. The spouse of the wage earner deciding to postpone benefits may not have a strong work history, but just enough to be entitled to a small retirement benefit on their own earnings record. Once they elect to start the smaller benefit rate, any reduction in the entitlement is permanent. It is only potentially affected by continued work. If you know you will be eligible on your spouse’s higher earnings record once they file, you know your benefit rate will increase to up to half of their original rate reduced for age when entitled. The extra variable in this case scenario is the probability of your spouse predeceasing you. If they do, the monthly widow(er) benefit rate payable to you will be computed based on your age at the time of entitlement as a widow(er) and the monthly benefit payable will be added to your preexisting monthly benefit payable increasing your monthly benefit rate up to the rate payable at the time of death/time of election. This amount is added to your benefit rate payable on your own retirement and will effectively alleviate the original reduction factor, making calculation of break-even more complex. You need to be very mindful of longevity/health versus cash in hand use for personal use/investment. Typically, in this case scenario, the break-even for recovery of the initial loss of the original reduction would break even well below 8 years which statistically is more advantageous for you. Here’s an example of two spouses both born in 1961 sharing a full retirement age of 67: Spouse One (lower wage earner) rate electing to start benefit at 62: original rate of $300.00 monthly benefit reduced for age 62 $202.00 Spouse Two (higher benefit rate) electing to start benefit at 67: original rate $2700.00 Spouse One original rate now payable $1350.00 For Spouse One $1050.00, the amount payable after their original rate payable on their own record is deducted, is added to the $202.00 for a continued benefit rate of $1252.00 Spouse Two then passes away at age 69 making you eligible for widow(er) benefits. Spouse One has received $16,968 on their own retirement from age 62 through 69. $8232.00 was not paid due to the initial reduction. The benefit remained reduced during spousal entitlement. The widow(er) rate payable at is now $2700.00. It is added to the original $202.00. This benefit rate would be increased to $2700.00 regardless of initial reduction so the initial loss of $98.00 a month no longer exists. Your new benefit rate is increased by $2498.00 a month recovering the initial loss within 7 years, after which the initial reduction loss is no longer an issue. Widow(er) benefits are one of […]
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