I delayed SS to age 70 after retiring at age 66. We lived off pre-tax and Roth IRA's to bridge to the start of SS. This allowed us to keep our income low enough for a four year period to qualify for zero premium ACA health coverage for my 4.5 years younger wife until she started medicare. What a good deal!!!
The scenario I never really see analyzed is male higher earner 5 years younger than female lower earner. I don’t really want to wait til my wife is 75 before I start collecting.
Good review. This couple has a 15 year age gap, with the male being older. His life expectancy is 10-15 years at best. The odds of her getting any financial benefit by waiting to take her own is close to zero. For many couple the “split strategy” makes a lot of sense. (One takes earlier and one takes later). Fact is the largest check is the last check, and most couples don’t die at the same time.
Correct. I am 6 years older than wife. I will wait till FRA to file and take wife’s at 62. My larger check should be around a long time, maybe 25 years between me collecting and then my wife getting that same amount as her survivor benefit.
You've given a lot of great advice; This is both very helpful for everybody and great advertising for your knowledge. We just hit the 5 years to go mark (to 67, well for my wife anyway), and I'll be reaching out at some point to engage your services.
Breakeven analysis is not the only decision. Deferring SS benefits leads to a higher COLA-adjusted check that mitigates the fat tail risk of running out of money when we are older and unable to work.
Sasha's husband is 74, thus was born in 1950 and his FRA would have been 66 years old, thus assuming he claimed at 66, that was 2016. To get his FRA primary benefit, we need to remove the COLA that was added since 2016. By looking at the COLA tables, his Full retirement amount would have been $1909.19 in 2016. Sasha's own SS if she delays to 70 would therefore be higher than her husband's death benefit, so there is no point in taking his death benefit. She should claim spousal benefit at 62 years old and let her own benefit grow until 70 and then switch to claim ger own at 70. Right? Or am I making some incorrect assumptions?
Thank you for all the fantastic information. Your videos are one of the most informative sources I have found on retirement related topics. I am 7 years older than my wife. I plan to claim SS in 14 months when I turn 70. She plans to claim in 4 months when she turns 62. Upon my passing, will her survivor benefit be reduced because she claimed before her FRA?
Hi James ,I love your show , my name Leoni 50 yrs old now i have some months( part time job )contribution at SSS . my Autistic son 17 yrs old now Need constant supervision.. My husband is the only one worked until aged of 69 he gets full retirement age(67) benefit from social security. he is 76 yrs old now. my son was 8 yrs old when he retired my son gets 50% of his retirement. my question are: 1 .what do i need to do to get continues benefit for my son when he turn 18? 2. if I retire at 62 i get 50% of my husband retirement or do i need to wait on my full retirement Age 3, if the event of worker passing . what do we need to do as a survival beneficiary to get the benefits. I believe knowledge is power and come across your show Is a God s way to blessd me...Thank you very much ...Have a blessed day
In order to get your full spousal benefit, you have to wait until your full retirement age to start collecting. Your full retirement age is 67. You can start collecting as early as age 62. but your benefit will be permanently reduced by almost 50%.
Hi, James, your videos are very informative. I have learned a lot from your videos. Thank you very much. In my case, my husband is 9 years older than me. His social security at 67 will be 1800. Mine will be around 3500. Both of us are in good health. He is currently 61. Can he collect his own social security at 62, then switch to collect spousal benefit when I start collecting at my 67? Should I start collecting at 67 or 70? Thanks
From my understanding of spousal benefits they are based on half of the higher SS of the other spouse. So that would be $1750 of your PIA. But if he is going to get $1800 then I can't see where there would be anything for him to get.
@@penelope5500if husband starts collecting his benefit at 62, his benefit that would be $1,800 at his full retirement age will be reduced permanently by about 30% (so, benefit would be approx $1,260). He could still get some spousal "top off" when she starts collecting. That will be a factor for her to consider when trying to decide when to start collecting her benefits. But, also keeping in mind that when one of them passes away, the survivor will only collect the higher benefit of the two, so it's usually a good idea to aim for having the higher earner in a couple have the largest benefit possible. All of this is based on current rules- who knows what the rules will be in the future as the government tries to deal with the impending SS shortfall.
James, what about taking your ex husbands social security at 62 and then taking your own at 70? Also my mom is 100 and I’m 59 so I have to plan on 40+ more years.
Those days are over. Social Security changed the rules a few years ago. When you apply you are “deemed” to be applying for both and you get the higher of the two.
I just asked the same question when I called the social security office two days ago. You had to be born before January 1st of 1954 to be able to do that before they changed the rules. I was hoping to be able to do that also, but I was born in 1962.
