We do not have pensions, like millions of Americans. And like millions of Americans, we paid into a system that promised us a certain return … in fact, it continues to tell us that we will receive x amount per month. So we and millions of others care deeply about SS continuing as promised. We expect our lawmakers to figure it out.
No, I wouldn’t starve without it. But millions of seniors would. That’s why SS was started in the first place. Is that really a country to which we want to return? A country where the divide between the rich and the poor keeps growing and we pull out the safety net? Are we ready to build poorhouses again? Yes, it matters to me.
I will get around $4000/month in SS when I retire. I wouldn’t be able to live off it because I live in nyc, but if someone were to move to a rural place or overseas, they probably could live off 4K. If it’s a couple then it would be $8k.
We are not dependent on just social security for retirement income. We both always contributed the max to our 401k and 503b accounts…and I have a pension. And both of us worked so we really have no debt.
DH waited until 70 to collect his SS. At this point, he has not tapped into all of his retirement accounts. I collected SS at age 62, but my benefit was never very big because I worked mostly in a state where teachers don’t contribute to SS. But I did benefit from the repeal of the WEP and GPO and my SS is a bit higher now.
We were fortunate that we were able to save as we did. And we know that.
My Medicare payments come out of my social security. I took my ss at 67 because for us it didn’t matter when I did wrt our financial planning (DH will wait til 70) so we pay for his Medicare monthly. Good news is, when he retired we filed for the IRMAA exception so the monthly Medicare premium is now much lower, but for those with higher IRMAA rates added to their Medicare and drug premiums, those can add up so it’s nice to maximize the ss benefit.
eta: We applied for/were approved for the IRMAA exception in April, which was retroactive to Jan 2026. So I got a nice deposit (refund) for the overpayment into my cking account (am supposed to get a check from the secondary/supplemental in the next few weeks or so) and my DH, due to the overpayments for the first 4 mos, won’t see a bill for his Medicare Part B or D until October.
I also think they should look into changing the length of time someone has to be married in order to claim spousal benefits on Social Security. For example let’s say I’m 65 and have been married 4 times with each marriage lasting 10 years, then each of my 4 spouses ( if they don’t remarry) can claim 50% of the amount of my social security.
So if I draw $3000 per month, my 4 ex husbands/ wives can each claim $1500. That totals $9000. I’m pretty sure I’m not paying in that much.
I know a lot of teachers who got big payouts when Biden changed the pension v SS rules. One friend, who had always been a teach and knew she wasn’t going to get SS but has a pretty large pension, now gets 50% of her husbands and his is the top amount.
Those of us who have worked for state governments that opted out of SocSec are absolutely relying on spousal benefits, because in exchange for working at lower wages than our private-sector counterparts, we get no SocSec. Fair trade, right?
Highly unlikely but not impossible that someone would marry 4 times with each marriage lasting at least 10 years. the first two exes would likely remarry (so wouldn’t be eligible) and/or enter the workforce to support themselves and get SS off their own earnings record.
I couldn’t find statistics to that effect, but here is an interesting older article on all things marriage and divorce. Who would have thought January was a popular divorce month?
I asked Google how many people in the US were receiving spousal SS benefits. Here is a response:
“ Approximately 1.9 million people receive standard spousal benefits based on a living worker’s record, with an additional 3.8 million people receiving survivor benefits based on a deceased spouse’s record. Spousal benefits form a crucial part of the retirement system, providing auxiliary payments to husbands, wives, and divorced former spouses who meet specific criteria. [1, 2, 3]
The breakdown of the different categories of spousal-based benefits currently administered by the Social Security Administration includes: [1, 2]
Spouses of retired workers: ~1.9 million people, which includes about 160,000 divorced spouses.
Spouses of workers with disabilities: ~88,000 people, including roughly 11,000 divorced spouses.
Surviving spouses: ~3.5 million people, including approximately 430,000 divorced surviving spouses.
Other survivor beneficiaries: About 300,000 people (including surviving spouses with disabilities and those caring for young/disabled children). [1]
(Note: These figures represent auxiliary beneficiaries receiving payments. An unknown portion of these individuals are “dually entitled,” meaning they receive a spousal benefit to top up the amount they already receive from their own personal work records). [1]”
Here is an example of a “top up”: one spouse gets $3,000, and the other is entitled to $1,000 based on their own earnings records. The lesser earning spouse can elect their own or half of the other spouse’s benefits. So the “hit” to SS is not $1,500 a month but only $500.
technically, that is incorrect. There is no choosing, no either/or.
While the cash to the beneficiary is one net direct deposit amount, it’s really two components: one’s own benefit amount + the diff between the deceased benefits amount and your own (or, top-up to use Gemini’s language).
The point is that you never lose your own benefit. Now, how SS reports those top-up accounts in its official reporting is another question.
Doesn’t matter if I think it is fair or not. That’s not how it was before.
You chose a state govt pension job and would have to opt between the pension or 1/2 your spouse’s SS (or have a reduction based on the old formula). Now you get both without a deduction. This has impacted the SS funds that are now available into the 2030s. My sister had a 30 year career paying into SS but then became a teacher. She paid into the pension as a teacher but for her it was going to be better to get the SS and take a refund of the pension amount. Now she gets both and the state has to pay her their portion of the pension too which they wouldn’t have had to do if she’d opted for SS over the pension.
I think what will happen, not today but in a few years, is that state and private pension jobs will become SS jobs. That’s what happened to federal jobs in 1982(ish) when they changed from the old govt pension system (CSRS) to FERS. We still paid into a pension under FERS but only .8 % of pay and paid SS just like everyone else. It really bulked up the SS funds available to all.
In this example, the $1000 spouse would get $1500/mo, which is $1000 of her own and $500 from the spouse. All comes in one direct deposit.
My mother took SS at age 65 and got half of my father’s amount. But she was still working, so at some point 100% of hers was more than 50% of his, so she got that amount for years. He died and then she got 100% of his, which was more than 100% of hers.
And I give kudos to SSA worker who helped her through all of this. When they asked for a marriage certificate, mother lost it (“I don’t have one, I’ve never had one”) The very nice, calm clerk said because she had at one point claimed under his, that was good enough to prove they were married (basically, because SSA screwed up once before by not asking for the certificate, they’d live with that).
I just want to make clear that the windfall elimination act made a lot of us who were getting screwed whole and will make a big difference. I don’t have an opinion on spousal benefits changed under that legislation since it didn’t change that for me but having worked part of my career under a government pension and part under social security losing 1/3 of my social security (as I would have under the old law) as “windfall” was a really bitter pill to swallow. Now I’ll get both which I paid into and deserve. Believe me neither is a very substantial amount but the two together are critical in allowing me to survive financially in my retirement years.
the first two exes would likely remarry (so wouldn’t be eligible) and/or enter the workforce to support themselves and get SS off their own earnings record.