Archive for the ‘social security benefits’ Category
January 19, 2011
Survivor Benefits are benefits paid to the surviving spouse, divorced spouse, children or parents of a deceased worker.
In order to qualify for Social Security Survivor Benefits, you must meet certain criteria.
First, the deceased must have the requisite number of work credits. The number of work credits required varies depending on the year he was born, the year he died or became disabled, and his age at death. The maximum number of work credits required is 40- the equivalent of 10 years of work. To find the number of work credits required of a deceased worker, see www.ssa.gov.
Second, you must fall into one of the following categories.
- You are a surviving spouse or divorced surviving spouse over age 60.
- You are a disabled surviving spouse or divorced disabled surviving spouse over age 50 who became disabled within seven years of your deceased spouse’s death.
- You are a surviving spouse at any age if you take care of the deceased spouse’s child who is under age 16 or disabled and receiving Social Security benefits.
- You are an unmarried child under 18, or up to age 19 and attending high school full time. Under certain circumstances, benefits can be paid to stepchildren, grandchildren, or adopted children.
- You are a child of any age who was disabled before age 22 and remains disabled.
- You are a parent of the deceased if you are at least age 62 and were dependent on the deceased for at least one-half of your financial support. (Marriage of the dependent parent after their child’s death would cause these benefits to cease.)
Third, if you are a surviving spouse, you must have been married for at least 9 months prior to your deceased spouse’s death to qualify, unless you are the parent of a child with the deceased spouse, you were married to the spouse previously for at least 9 months, or the deceased spouse died on active military duty or as a result of an accident.
Fourth, if you are a divorced surviving spouse, you must have been married to the deceased for at least 10 years.
Elizabeth L. Perla, Esq.
Law Offices of Randall M. Perla
Cleveland Estate Planning Attorneys
19443 Lorain Road
Fairview Park, Ohio 44126
Phone (440) 333-2503
Fax (440) 333-9650
perlalaw@wowway.com
www.randallperla.com
January 19, 2011
Dependent Benefits
Divorce- If you are divorced, you are still eligible for dependents benefits based on your former spouse’s record if the marriage lasted at least ten years, the divorced became final at least two years prior and both you and former spouse have reached age 62, regardless of whether your spouse has begun receiving benefits himself.
Remarriage- Your former spouse’s remarriage has no effect on your ability to collect dependent benefits on his earning record. However, your own remarriage will cause you to lose the ability to collect dependent benefits on your former spouse’s record. You will then need to meet these same requirements to qualify for dependent benefits under your new spouse’s record, ie. ten year marriage, etc. If however, you divorce again, you can collect dependent benefits on either of your former spouse’s earning records if you meet the same necessary requirements previously cited for each respective former spouse.
Survivor Benefits
Divorce- If you are divorced, you are still eligible for dependents benefits based on your former spouse’s record if the marriage lasted at least ten years.
Remarriage- A surviving spouse who remarries before age 60 loses survivor benefits through the deceased former spouse- however if she is again widowed or divorced at age 60 she regains her eligibility. A surviving spouse who remarries after age 60 will not lose her survivor benefits.
Please keep in mind that divorce or remarriage has no effect on your ability to receive retirement benefits based on your own work record.
Elizabeth L. Perla, Esq.
Law Offices of Randall M. Perla
Cleveland Estate Planning Attorneys
19443 Lorain Road
Fairview Park, Ohio 44126
Phone (440) 333-2503
Fax (440) 333-9650
perlalaw@wowway.com
www.randallperla.com
January 18, 2011
So you’re approaching 62 or maybe 66 and you’re wondering, is it time to tap into my social security retirement benefits? Or maybe you’re in the retirement planning stages and wondering how best to leverage your benefits. Either way, reviewing the following checklist of factors should help you arrive at an answer.
1.) How much will I get? This will depend on your earning record, the year you were born and probably most importantly at this point, when you choose to tap into them.
If you are thinking of applying for your benefits prior to your full retirement age (you can apply as early as age 62), the amount of benefits you will receive over the course of your lifetime will decrease for every month you’ve received those benefit prior to age 66, your full retirement age. (Please note that although for ease of reading I will refer to age 66 as full retirement age, your full retirement age will differ slightly based on the year you were born. You can find out your full retirement age on www.ssa.gov).
Contrastingly, you can increase your benefit amount for every year you delay receiving your benefits past age 66 up to age 70. There is an often cited phrase called your “break even point.” This phrase can either refer to the point at which waiting until 66 would have been to your advantage rather than taking benefits at age 62 or the point at which waiting to taking benefits until age 70 would be to your advantage rather than taking benefits at 66.
So for example, it is often cited that if you take retirement benefits at the earliest possible time, age 62, and live past 77 then your total lifetime benefits will be less than if you had waited until age 66. Similarly, it is often cited that if you wait to take benefits until you are age 70, and live past 79 then your total lifetime benefits will be more than if you had taken benefits at age 66. These figures aren’t entirely accurate because your particular “break even points” will differ slightly based on your earning record and the year you were born. You can figure out your own “break even points” at www.ssa.gov .
2.) Do I have an immediate need for the funds? If you need the money to pay the bills or have enough retirement money saved up for yourself, but have a family member for example, that needs the money, then you may want to consider taking the funds early.
3.) Will taking my funds now allow me to keep other profitable investments in place longer? What is going to provide you the more profitable return?
4.) Am I still working? If you are still working and are below age 66, you will lose $1 for every $2 you earn above $14,160.
5.) How is my health? If you have a particular health condition or family history that makes it unlikely that you will live past 66 or 79, depending on whether your considering early or late benefits, then you may want to consider taking benefits early.
6.) How stable do I believe the current social security system is? A lot of people are of the opinion that social security retirement benefits are unsustainable and that they will be reduced over time. If that is the case then it may be better to start tapping into your social security retirement benefits as soon as possible.
Elizabeth L. Perla, Esq.
Law Offices of Randall M. Perla
Cleveland Estate Planning Attorneys
19443 Lorain Road
Fairview Park, Ohio 44126
Phone (440) 333-2503
Fax (440) 333-9650
perlalaw@wowway.com
www.randallperla.com
January 10, 2011
The amount of Social Security benefits, that is retirement benefits, disability benefits, dependency benefits, and survivor benefits, that you qualify for is calculated based on your earning record. People with greater earnings will receive greater benefits. Moreover, you must accumulate 40 credits of work to qualify- essentially 10 years of work.
Hence, it is in your best interest to make sure that Social Security has an accurate work record for you, especially if you have changed your name during your lifetime due to marriage or divorce or have a hyphenated name, as it increases the odds of an error.
You should receive your statement every year in the mail. However, if you have not been receiving your statement or would like to view an updated statement, you can obtain it online at the social security website (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/isss/main.html). You will need your name as shown on you social security card, your social security number, date of birth, place of birth and your mother’s maiden name. If you do find an error and would like assistance in getting the record corrected, our office can help.
In addition to a record of your earnings history, the statement includes an estimate of benefits available to you and family- which can be useful for planning purposes, especially if you are nearing retirement age.
Elizabeth L. Perla, Esq.
Law Offices of Randall M. Perla
Cleveland Estate Planning Attorneys
19443 Lorain Road
Fairview Park, Ohio 44126
Phone (440) 333-2503
Fax (440) 333-9650
perlalaw@wowway.com
www.randallperla.com
