If he is over 65 he must go right into Medicare. Cobra is not considered creditable coverage and if he does not go right into Medicare , when he does he will be hit with that 10% penalty forever.
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Noā¦but the federal government does. Thatās what I thought this poster meant. If they reside in FL, they wouldnāt have state income tax at allā¦and the timing of the husband taking SS wouldnāt matter.
FRA for @sdl0625 's DH is 66y8m.
So no earnings ding from May 2025.
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This is way too complicated. In my simple thinking, not getting SS after not paying into the system looks less injustice than not getting SS although one paid SS tax.
@sdl0625 - Found this - ā7 Things You Should Know About Taxes on Social Security(single,of%20benefits%20can%20be%20taxed.
Summary excerpt regarding Federal tax on SS
Hereās how it stands:
** Combined income under $25,000 (single) or $32,000 (couple): Benefits are not taxed.*
** Combined income of $25,000 to $34,000 (single) or $32,000 to $44,000 (couple): Up to 50 percent of benefits can be taxed.*
** Combined income above $34,000 (single) or $44,000 (couple): Up to 85 percent of benefits can be taxed.*
than not getting SS although one paid SS tax.
@Iglooo here is the issueā¦there are some folks (like me) who DID pay into SS for a lot of years before moving to a state where I didnāt. My SS benefit is reduced by 2/3. It would not have been much anywayā¦but come on.
If I had never worked a day in my life (and never contributed to SS), I would be able to collect on my husbandās earnings. I can never do thatā¦now.
Iām not complaining about my pension. Iām complaining because I think at least I should be able to collect 100% of my SS benefit which I contributed toā¦and not have it reduced by 2/3.
This is my last comment about this. I donāt want to create a debate.
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Iām sorry this has happened to you guys.
Iām not sure you asked exactly this, but it is important -
IF your husband collects SS, and if he makes more than a specific amount in a calendar year (somewhere around $22K in 2024), then SS will take back a part of his social security, until he reaches his full retirement age.
I THINK, but Iām not sure, that if he collects social security for the rest of this year, his amount will only be impacted depending on how much he makes AFTER leaving full-time employment.
This may be helpful
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Correct. Cobra is not a creditable coverage. It is secondary to Medicare.
I believe there is a grace period of 8 months (from the loss of regular coverage) to transfer from COBRA to Medicare without penalty.
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Someone I know is signing up for a retirement plan. His employer has a pension but he is also paying SS tax. Thatās why I asked if one gets pension, one automatically disqualify from getting SS benefits. It didnāt sound right to me that he doesnāt get any SS benefits although he pays into it. I agree with you should get at least what you paid into. No debate here.
I believe only the fed govt has an offset if you are getting certain fed pensions and might otherwise get SS but it would be offset by the fed pension.
As far as I know private pensions shouldnāt interfere with eligibility for SS.
All states have an office on aging and an office that can offer free advice about Medicare. People can ask their HR whether is at all affected by SS.
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There are public employee pensions which did not pay into social security. Thatās the one discussed here. My mom has that type of pension. She has never drawn on my dadās social security.
My husband has a pension also. A private company. Many, many companies had pensions, as people lived longer it was harder to keep funding those pensions and most of them have been phased out. They used to be very popular. My husbandās company phased out the pension for those who started working there in 1996.
He paid into social security also. So he has a pension and social security.
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That isnāt true. Public employees in a bunch of states who are not federal employees are also subject to the offset provision. They get pensions, but any SS they contributed toā¦and earned, is reduced by about 2/3.
This is one of the reasons I chose to collect SS at age 62. My benefit was reduced so I decided to enjoy that for the three years before it started to pay my Medicare premiumā¦which is about all it pays. My CFP had never thought of it that way, but he agreed with me!
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Can we just agree that the person/SS thing can vary by state and employer of the pension(private vs public)???
There is not one formula. And if this might affect you, you should get some info ahead of time to be informed about how things work for YOU.
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Agreed! My husband is also subject to the windfall elimination provision but he has enough other years of social security earnings that his social security is only reduced about 5%. When you start getting into the weeds every situation is different.
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That makes sense. You didnāt pay into the system, and you donāt get the benefit. That I can understand. And you know going in you wonāt get SS benefit since you arenāt paying SS tax. I can live with that. It looks like WEP and GPO both address the case when the beneficiaries didnāt pay into the system. This young man I mentioned is paying SS tax. I am guessing he can expect SS benefits when the time comes.
I would imagine that is correct. If an employee is both working and paying into SS while also earning a pension at the same employer it only makes sense they would receive both later.
As an example, current federal employees pay into social security, contribute to a pension plan and have access to a ā401kā. When they retire, they will receive their pension, social security and money from their TSP (401k).
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Iām just starting to really think about this, as I know Iāve got a few years (Iām 49). So I wanted to just say that Iāve found a lot of the examples and info on this thread really helpful as a way to start leaning in to figuring out even what my questions are.
One thing that I already know I donāt love, I ran the calculator to figure out when to start taking SS for myself and my spouse andā¦ because I make more it wants me to start taking SS at 70, and him to start at 62. Ok, but he is nine years older than me. Which means he could start drawing SS 17 years before me (17 = the 9 year age difference + the 8 year delta between 62 and 70).
I donāt think heāll be ready to stop working at 62 (four years from now) and I donāt plan to keep working until 70, so weāve got a good bit more figuring out to do for how to maximize our benefit in a way that also meshes with our lives/needs.
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When I run the calculator, it says that the optimal time for me to start taking SS is now. I am past 62 but not at FRA. When I was 62, the calculator said that FRA was optimal for me. I saw an explanation on the Bogleheads forum for the change, but I donāt understand it. For us, we donāt need to start SS yet from a financial standpoint, so we choose to both wait until 70. We get guaranteed growth. Yes, we may āloseā money if one or both of us dies sooner than our planning assumes. Thatās okay with us. It sounds like in your situation, itās okay with you to wait. No reason not to, IMO.
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The math is the math. It is typical in the math models for the higher earner to wait until 70. That said, if I were you, I would not even be looking at the math for at least 5 years. Under current law, SS will take a haircut in about 10 years, so the benefit/tax structure will have to be changed by Congress. The math today may not be the same math in ~5 years when hubby is 62.
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Yes @kelsmom - I think youāre right. For us, weāll likely be waiting, which means ālosingā potential money. But thatās ok, I just want to start thinking about what the future might look like.
@bluebayou - Iām laughing a bit at your note, because I literally just came out of a meeting at work where I announced āthatās the math, the math doesnāt lie, the math is the math.ā So I agree! 
And yes, you are right, things could well be changing and very different as we get closer to reality of taking SS for either of us. I feel like Iām in a place where I just need to start thinking about what the future MIGHT look like, because I havenāt done much planning yet, and while itās a ways off for me, itās closer for my husband.
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