Actually, our credit scores were over 800 not long ago, and our insurance company was considering credit scores in their rates and told me that we didn’t qualify for the lowest rate because of our credit scores. I figured that perhaps the very lowest rate was only given to people with perfect credit scores.
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I have been putting almost everything on my Delta AmEx and have had the same thing happen- Cr score fluctuates with the amt of spending on the card, even though we pay it off in full- always. But the card has a high limit so I guess they think we could spend it all- though even if we did we would pay it off in full!
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I went to a few classes recently on retirement and finances, and they feel that there are lots of millenials doing their part with their current incomes to help keep SS afloat. I would like to see them raise (or even eliminate) the salary cap.
As for taking SS, I took mine after FRA, but before 70 b/c I was retiring and wanted the cashflow so I felt like I had my own money to play with. DH is waiting til 70 to take his. My Medicare and IRMAA are taken out of my SS payments, so that dropped a chunk each month. Now that DH is retired from FT work and just doing some random consulting, he is working hard to get out AGI and thus our IRMAA down. He recently submitted that IRMAA exception form so we are seeing if we can get the current IRMAA down, and then, if he is able to manage investments differently, to reach this end goal. In the meantime, I now have to take RMD so we are doing lots of donations from the IRA.
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My mother-in-law recently got her own credit card. One of her friends had the problem of her card no longer working after her husband died. She also got her own checking account which she didn’t need to do since their bank account is joint and in their trust. She was afraid of being locked out if her husband died.
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You do get credit for being an authorized user on a CC. I gave both of my kids my AmEx Platinum card when they were on my payroll. When they graduated to get their own cards, they were able to get a much higher limit on their cards because of my AmEx payment history.
As a retiree it is very hard to get a new mortgage or loan. You can google and see how they do their underwritings. Each bank maybe different, but most of them care more about your income rather than assets.
It is better to get your mortgage and loans in place before you retire.
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Relating to Credit Cards: I have one in my name. DH has all the remaining in his name, and I’m “authorized user”. In retrospect, that was dumb, but we don’t want to open new ones now.
His cards also have most of our airline miles or points available for cash exchange. I’m curious what happens if he leaves the world first. Do all the perks just go “poof”? I asked at a brick-and-mortar location, and they didn’t know! I googled, and it was a mixed response from posters. Most advised the “don’t ask-don’t tell”, approach, and suggested if possible to cash exchange any points before notifying bank. What about airline miles? (Atmos/Alaska card especially).
I think the “cap SS benefits at $100,000” was a nonsense suggestion from one of the billionaires e.g. Bezos in the Washington Post. I do not think it will get any serious traction. Obviously these guys can smell it coming that there will be movement to billionaires’ wealth taxation so they’re trying to drop ideas about “alternatives”. There should be no problem funding SS through raising the income cap or just fixing the taxes collected to be more in line with historical rates.
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I wondered about this since our HHonors points are on my husband’s Am Ex. I learned I could inherit but only if I had my own HHonors account before DOD. So I set one up and managed to activate it within the time frame.
Atmos seems to have a shared program but again, you would need your own account number.
The answers likely are buried within each reward program’s web sites.
My FIL had a Chase Freedom card . When the card was closed after he died they sent a check to his estate for the $1200+ for the rewards points available on the card.
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What are the types of things that count as IRMAA exceptions? I mean, does the cessation of working (retiring) count??? Or is it granted more in one-off or unusual situations?
Negative. It was a proposal from the non-partisan Committee for Responsible Budget. It may not get any traction, as it essentially is capping the earnings of the second earner, which has historically been female, but who knows what will drive the politics of it.
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Negative back atcha:
Hiltzik: A new Social Security proposal would cap benefits, but why? - Los Angeles Times Commentary: A proposed new 'fix' for Social Security that harms workers and protects the rich
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A friend of mine went through this, and it worked out OK, but it wasn’t easy. I can’t remember the details, but next time I see her I’ll ask and report back. IIRC, her daughter actually booked the entire family round trip tickets to Hawaii with miles before they notified the bank of his death. Then they were used/reused from that point. But I think my friend was also able to keep other miles. I know some people have tons of miles so they can be quite valuable.
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From the Internet:
"Qualifying Life-Changing Events
You can request an IRMAA adjustment if you have experienced one of the following events:
Death of a spouse
Marriage
Divorce or annulment
Work reduction or stoppage
Loss of income-producing property
Loss of pension income
Receipt of an employer settlement payment”
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What happens to a joint credit card when one of the cardholders dies? Does the other holder lose the card?
I can understand why a credit card issuer would be more reticent about giving a credit card to a person without a clear source of income. But, would the surviving spouse lose the pre-existing but joint cards?
My apologies. You guys may have discussed this explicitly but I missed it.
I cancelled two of H’s cards. I was a joint cardholder on the other two and now it’s just me. I had to call all of the credit card issuers and send a death certificate. I remember that it was pretty easy.
I still recommend that every adult have a card or two in their own name .
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It sounds like you were able to keep the cards on which you were a joint cardholder. Correct?
My concern would be that I am probably responsible for 95% of our income. We have a card that ShawWife uses for her business purposes but it is joint because that enabled a much higher credit limit. I would not want ShawWife to lose that card (or others) if I were to die.
Your wife can apply for her own personal cards using the combined household income. There’s no reason not to get personal credit cards.
Credit cards are not obligated to continue credit lines if the credit holder dies. Authorized users are not primary card holders.
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Thanks. I will see if she is the card holder or the authorized user on that card.
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I honestly didn’t know, “joint,” cards were even a thing ??
It is good that you were able to do this after your husband passed. Mil had a rude awakening when , “her,” (she was only an authorized user) card was denied at the liquor store about three weeks after fil passed.
I wonder if all cards with longtime holders/usage will do this if one acts quickly. It seems you did act quickly since you wrote that you canceled your dh’s cards rather than allowing them to be canceled by credit bureaus.
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