What You Must Know
- Welcome to Connecting the Dots, the column the place Marcia Mantell discusses real-life choices round Social Safety claiming and retirement.
- Have your shopper contact the SSA in the event that they assume they could be entitled to extra advantages, maybe on an ex-spouse’s file.
- No, you’ll be able to’t declare your full profit earlier than the month you attain full retirement age.
Generally monetary advisors run into extremely uncommon Social Safety conditions with their purchasers. The questions purchasers ask are off the crushed path and might depart advisors shaking their heads. Listed here are three of essentially the most attention-grabbing questions I acquired in 2023.
An Ex-Partner Would Wish to Declare Her Retroactive Spousal High-Up
An advisor landed a brand new shopper who was already amassing Social Safety advantages. The brand new shopper had been divorced for a few years.
Lately, the shopper heard she would possibly qualify for a bigger profit by claiming on her ex-husband. She met the divorce guidelines, so the advisor took a have a look at her state of affairs then referred to as me with this query: Can an ex-spouse return to Social Safety to assert an ex-spousal top-up?
In concept, certain. If you’re due a profit, Social Safety pays missed advantages retroactively, again six months.
Sadly, on this case, the shopper was 82 years outdated and claimed 20 years in the past! She didn’t know concerning the ex-spouse top-up and nobody instructed her at the moment.
Motion steps: The shopper ought to make an appointment with the Social Safety Administration to debate her state of affairs.
- The SSA ought to have a “lead for advantages” on file from again when every ex claimed advantages. If the lead was by no means closed, she could possibly be due 20 years of again funds.
- At a minimal, she would get a six-month retroactive fee plus the top-up going ahead.
- If the ex-husband dies first, she will declare surviving ex-spousal advantages and sure see a big increase in month-to-month advantages.
Ex-Spouse of a Police Officer Is Trying to Declare Ex-Spousal Advantages
In one other divorce case, with a a lot youthful shopper, the ex-wife requested her advisor how and when to assert her ex-spousal Social Safety advantages. At 60, she needs a full plan for her retirement revenue.
She was an at-home mother, married to a police officer for over 15 years, then divorced. Since then, she’s been working and receiving alimony.
The advisor referred to as asking concerning the course of and timing for her to use for Social Safety together with her ex-spousal top-up.