Social Security manages to get people all mixed up just when they are the least capable of dealing with it. The Social Security rulebook is a monster with rules so tangled up and complicated that certified public accountants often have as much trouble as the rest of us. Things aren't the same today that they always were. Lots of people have had a member of the family lose a job. People just have to delay retirement, keep working either full-time or part-time, to keep themselves afloat. Let us look at some of the most important Social Security questions people have these days about benefits in today's situation.
Question: Same sex couples are not recognized by the government; and columns that answer Social Security questions don't really broach this subject much. For being a part of a same sex couple how much trouble do people come by trying to gain Social Security benefits?
Well, same-sex couples really do function out of a handicap. In civil unions or legal domestic relationships, these partners are complete strangers as far as the regulations go. The first thing to go here is the spousal benefit - not for death, for disability, or anything. All they can do is buy term insurance for themselves and save hard for any misfortune. If your partner's personal Social Security brings home, say $15,000 a year, you'll want to make arrangements to have that money replaced, should your partner die. That would mean buying a policy worth about $300,000. Of course, that would cost you between $2000 and $3000 a year in premiums. There are no easy solutions.
Question: There is a rumor out, that you can file for Social Security, but then apply to have it suspended even before you collect your first check. And this lets you be on the record with Social Security as someone who's never claimed his benefits, but it lets your wife or husband collect their spousal benefits - their part of your Social Security deal. But the people at the Social Security office claim that such a thing doesn't exist. What is true?
Social Security is such a complicated thing that you cannot really blame those poorly paid clerks for not having all their strange rules at their fingertips to be able to answer deep Social Security questions with. This is indeed possible; what you need to do and see when you are flat-out denied by the clerk out front, is to ask to talk to the technical experts at the office. There are other ins and outs too. If you have started claiming your benefits already, you can still pay the Social Security office ever cent back, and wait until a later time when your check is likely to be higher. And your spouse who claims spousal benefits at full retirement age, can turn his or her own benefits whenever needed.
Question: if you begin to draw your benefits the moment you qualify at 62, but you invest it instead of spending it, would you be better off than those who put off their benefits until say, the age of 70?
If you could get 7% or 8%, you might well come out ahead. If you are going to be getting $14,000 a year waiting for full retirement age, but choose instead to cash in now at 62, for $10,000 a year, and if you invest it for four years at a great return like 7%, you would have at the end a tidy sum. If you happen to draw down that money at $300 a month, it should last you past the age of 100. But if you only earn 3% on it, it should last you no longer than 80. That is quite a risk there. These are complex social security questions that need you to weigh all kinds of possible factors; how long do you expect to live given your current health situation? How much does your spouse make in Social Security benefits, - that type of thing. These answers could possibly help you get started with ideas on how to tackle your specific situation.
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