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As our long time blog listeners/ readers know, divorced spouses are entitled to receive benefits on their ex-spouse’s earnings if certain conditions are met. Collecting on your ex-spouse will not reduce his/her benefits, even if your ex has a new spouse collecting on their earnings as well. In fact, the Social Security Administration will not […]

Simply put, you can claim your Social Security retirement benefit any time after you turn 62.  However, since this is Social Security (which is controlled by an oversized bureaucracy), it’s not quite that simple. When Are You Considered 62? If you want to receive your first Social Security retirement benefit check as soon as you […]

This is a follow up to a blog post from June 8th, 2016 entitled “Who Qualifies as a Spouse for Benefits?”  As it turns out, there is another exception to the one year wait for spousal benefits under an additional provision not mentioned in that post. From that post I wrote: “Secondly, the person must […]

Long-time readers of our blog probably know if you retire before your Full Retirement Age (FRA), which for most people today is sometime between the ages of 66 and 67 ─ but continue to work and earn a salary ─ you will be subject to a special rule called the Social Security Earnings Test. (There […]

Have you heard of Social Security Retroactive Benefits? Most people know you can apply for your Social Security benefits as early as age 62. Most people also know if you do claim early you will be permanently locked into a lower lifetime benefit than had you waited until your Full Retirement Age (FRA) before claiming […]

Let today’s post be a lesson in staying up to date with Social Security rules and regulations.  Readers of last week’s post learned that the Social Security Administration began requiring a cell phone to which they can send a text message with a code in order to access your online Social Security account.  This rule […]

As of July 30th, the Social Security Administration requires people to have a cell phone attached to their online Social Security account to which the SSA can text a code in order to access your account.  This is a new security feature that was announced earlier this year. Additional Layer of Security The additional layer […]

Today we discuss the Social Security benefit reduction as a result of claiming your retirement benefit prior to your full retirement age (FRA).  Most people know that if you claim your benefit before your FRA your benefit is reduced.  And many people have heard that if you claim at age 62 (your age of first […]

A few proposals for changes to Social Security seem to be gaining momentum. One of these is to change the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which affects people who have worked both in jobs participating in Social Security and in jobs outside of SS, like a government job that has a pension substitute to SS. There […]

With the furor over Social Security changes from the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act many people have only a partial understanding of the changes to rules involved with suspending your Social Security benefit.  The death of the traditional reason couples used the File and Suspend strategy has created the inaccurate rumor that “suspending” is now not […]