Need to confirm info rec’d verbally from Social Security
I am 68 yrs old; my full retirement age is 66. At 56 I left my “traditional” marriage of 35 yrs and restarted my life. I called the local social security office & asked the representative what monthly amount I could expect to receive if I retired at age 69 and at 70. I was told that because I have 10 years of Zero income and approx. 30 yrs of income less than $20K I can only expect approx $1900 at 69 and $2024 at 70. However, the person said that if I waited till 70 I’d have 2 more years of income to incorporate into the number AND that the new monthly amount would be increased by an additional 32% for having waited until 70. Is this true? Instead of receiving $2024 at 70, can I expect my payment to be 32% higher, approx $2671 for the rest of my life?
Terry Says
I think the person you talked to meant to say that you’d receive 30% more than if you had retired at full retirement age. It’s roughly 85 a year increase in your monthly payment for every year you wait until age 70. So it’s a good idea to wait.
But you also mentioned that you “left’ your traditional marriage of 35 years. If you are divorced from your ex, you may be able to qualify for his benefits — until you start collecting your own!
Here’s the paragraph I’m referring to:
If you were born before Jan. 2, 1954, and you delay filing for benefits until full retirement age, you can use this strategy of switching from one benefit to the other. When you reach full retirement age you can file a “restricted application” for the ex-spousal benefit and delay filing for your retirement benefit. This way, you can earn delayed retirement credits, increasing your benefit by 8 percent for each year you delay, up to age 70.
If you were born after Jan. 1, 1954, you have to file for your own benefit first, even if you have reached full retirement age.
OK, so that refers to taking SS BEFORE your FRA –on your ex-spouse’s benefit. Not sure it it still applies after FRA. BUT you should ask SS to check on that they check his record — because just maybe you can collect on him for two years, while deferring your own payments! And ask them to check what your spousal benefit would be (half of his) in case, though not likely, it turns out to be more than your own benefit!
