Y’all have me totally confused. I thought it was one SS for one person. Are you saying there’s some way for a person to claim two SSs?
Bold of you, to assume that the states that have opted out of SocSec also provide pensions.
(Neither of the states I have worked for do.)
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For most people who have Medicare and a supplement, insuring their possessions and if they have a car, car maintenance and insurance for the car – most people now have assets in addition to SS when they retire – otherwise they continue to work because they know they are broke. But I do know some people with SS as their only cash coming in, and perhaps some dividend investments or drawing off a nest egg.
Younger people have grown up knowing that they have to have their own investments/401k/IRA/Roth because most companies do not have pensions. Government agencies, military and others do have retirement and pensions. Sometimes individuals put off saving for retirement instead of saving all along. They don’t count on negative things happening in life, expect to keep making more money - do not count on job loss, divorce, etc.
DH and I also do not have pensions. We do care deeply about our SS continuing as promised.
If we didn’t have our nest egg, we could not have afforded to retire. We have a cash flow from the annuities we have purchased, and sometimes we take additional out of our substantial 401k. We follow our investments and are doing OK.
In addition to financials, one’s health is key in retirement.
I doubt that anyone on this thread is anticipating living on only SS for income. Most people are not willing to go raise their own food with garden/chickens/pigs/cows in a rural setting. Contrasting life between a metropolitan area and rural - there are differing expenses and costs associated with the gradation.
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Let’s say for example I’m entitled to $3000 per month in social security and my husband was a stay at home dad who worked part time intermittently and his social security is $800 per month. When he retires he will claim his $800 on his own record and claim $700 on mine. So his total is half of mine. In the event of my death my husband could then claim $800 on his record and $2200 on mine to equal 100% of mine. This is very simplistic all these figures change depending on each of your ages when you claim SS.
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I always thought if your spouse dies, you can choose to keep your benefit or take your spouse’s benefit if it’s the higher but you can’t keep both. My mom didn’t get to keep hers after my dad died. His was higher.
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My mom had spousal benefit, and then when dad died she got the higher amount as surviving spouse.
I draw my own SS but it is just a little bigger than spousal benefit, so I will receive higher benefit if DH dies. DH won’t get more if I die before him.
The total she got was the same as his, but it was actually her amount plus enough of his to equal the same amount he used to get. It is invisible to her which ‘pot’ the money is coming from. If she got $1000 and he got $2000, she would get, into her bank account, $2000, not $3000 (hers plus his) after his death. This is a huge problem for a lot of people who were used to living on $3000/mo (both) and now suddenly have their household income reduced to $2000.
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Thank you. Now I understand what y’all are saying.
H and I both claimed SS at age 64. ( based on our FA’s advice). He died last year.
He was a higher earner and though I worked many years I took some years off to be home with my kids). I now receive a benefit that is equivalent to what he got before he died. So I look at it as I DID lose my benefit when he died. We BOTH paid in , if we were both alive we would collect both payments. But because he died, I don’t get both.
I am fortunate enough to have plenty in investment accounts. But I still think this system is unfair to 2 income couples who are both paying in. The man at the SS office agreed with me.
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I’m going to put SSA’s codes onto this discussion in hopes that it helps. One is entitled to one’s own benefits based on one’s own earnings - the A benefit. When the spouse files and starts benefits, one is entitled to half of their amount (simplified to assume full benefit, not reduced) - the B benefit. If your A benefit is higher, that’s all you get. If the B benefit is higher, you get an amount added onto your A to total the B. When someone dies, the surviving spouse is entitled to a widow/widower benefit - the D benefit, which is essentially the deceased spouse’s amount. The deceased’s A benefit is gone. The spousal B benefit is gone. If your A benefit is higher, that’s all you get. If the D benefit is higher, that’s what you get.
I started my career life as an SSA Claims Authorizer but that was many decades ago. I chose to stay with the Federal pension system when they switched to SSA for employees. When I left after 15 years, I looked at what my pension might eventually be and took a payout instead and invested it in state college bonds for our son. So no Federal pension. Then later in life I worked a couple of jobs, qualified for SSA benefits, and worked long enough for a pension on one of the jobs. Husband worked 30 years under SSA so my B benefit exceeds my A benefit. He also has a pension, substantially more than mine.
So we have SSA, two pensions, my inherited IRA from my mom which was long enough ago that the ten year rule doesn’t apply, and we’re now drawing RMD from IRA’s and 401(k)’s.
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I know we are not. We saved and lived substantially under our means. We invested well and got lucky. Our financial planner is always urging us to spend more. My husband thinks I have some sort of dysmorphia about our money because I claim to be working still for the paycheck.
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We didn’t figure it into our retirement planning, so we both took it early to keep our investment withdrawals below 3%.
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Adding to this, my DH died at 64 and hadn’t started collecting. Years and years of paying in, and I received the $255 death benefit that hasn’t changed since the mid-50s.
I started my SS at 55. I will “switch” to (start his) at my FRA because it won’t go any higher except for COLAs.
It would be nice if there was a greater (updated) death benefit.
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Decades ago, we assumed that SS would not be dependable by our retirement. Saved heavily in our corporate 401K programs (in thanks partly to the sage advise from our older colleagues). We were happily surprised that SS survived, at least til now. Alas, it was our pensions that took a VERY big hit. We are still doing mighty fine, but it is due to having decent SS and big IRA/401K savings. With some inheritance bonus money we use for family travels etc.
I dislike the articles that simplistically talk about “how much do you need saved for retirement”. As we’ve discussed here on this forum for years, there are LOTS of factors. A big factor is pension… one or two… big, none, or somewhere in between.
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New article from last week - https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/many-people-start-claiming-social-180500155.html
I did find this trend interesting. Not sure if means people are saving better… or having to work past age 62 to afford retirement.
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and/or more people of starting to recognize that we are living longer and one of a relatively healthy married couple has a decent chance to make it into their 90’s where the Delayed Retirement Credits will help. And is seems to me that more Financial Advisors (and their models) are more aware of same.
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I would guess more people need to work until they are eligible for Medicare. Only people I know who retire before 65 are those who can still be on their spouse’s plan (like my H!)
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I think. you hit the nail on the head. We too planned retirement around Medicare. Stayed at my job ane extra year after husband (7 years older) retired to get him onto Medicare. That just left me for coverage, and I had an employer fund that helps me to bridge the gap.
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Personally I think the internet has changed how we think about things.
My parents and my in-laws filed for social security at 62. Why? Because they could. Simple as that. I am positive they did not read a bunch of articles. Do a simulation on when they would break even. Talk on internet discussion boards of the pros and cons of filing early or late.
My parents had high school educations. They were working class who were not sophisticated about retirement. My dad was convinced that we would die before he ever collected so the fact he collected at 62, he was the longest living in his family at that time.
My husband and I on the other hand are more informed and more knowledgeable about our retirement plans. We have multiple financial advisors and different streams of income. It’s a different ballgame
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