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If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
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Just my 2 cents - everybody's situation is different. My wife and I decided I'd file at 62 and she'd wait til 70 since her benefit was bigger. Worked great for us, we're 15 years into retirement and no regrets. Health problems can change everything tho so dont just think about the math, think about QUALITY OF LIFE!!
That's a good perspective, thank you. Were there any unexpected issues you ran into with your strategy that I should be aware of? Did your wife's larger benefit at 70 end up being worth the wait?
Absolutely worth it! Her benefit at 70 was nearly DOUBLE what it would've been at 62. The only surprise was Medicare premiums - they're higher than we expected and keep going up every year. But having one bigger check helps with that.
Has anyone mentioned survivor benefits yet? This is HUGE in your planning! When one spouse dies, the surviving spouse basically continues with the HIGHER of the two benefit amounts. So if you delay till 70 and get say $4200/month, then pass away, your husband would get that $4200/month for the rest of HIS life (assuming it's higher than his own benefit). So even if you delay and don't live super long, your husband could benefit from your higher amount for DECADES, especially with that 3 year age difference. This is especially important with his WEP situation limiting his own benefit.
This is so important! My friend's husband delayed till 70 then died at 74. She was devastated BUT she's now getting his maximum benefit at age 82 and will for many more years. His delaying ended up being a gift to her.
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One more thing I forgot to mention - when you call back, try to use their exact terminology. Instead of just saying your daughter "needs care" or "has disabilities," be specific about the "exercise of parental control and responsibility" and that you "provide personal services, supervision and direction" - those are the exact phrases from their policy manual that they're trained to look for.
That's incredibly helpful! I'll make sure to use those specific phrases. I wasn't prepared for how technical the conversation would be last time.
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WAIT i just realized something!!! Was your husband already collecting disability before switching to retirement??? Because that changes EVERYTHING about how they calculate this!!!
No, he wasn't on disability. He was just working up until last year and decided to retire early at 63 instead of waiting until his full retirement age.
After reading through this thread and your responses, I'm confident the SSA made the correct determination, but they failed to explain it properly. Based on the numbers you've shared, your husband's PIA is likely around $1,300, which exceeds 50% of your PIA ($1,065). Even though his actual payment is reduced to $935 because he's claiming early, the spousal benefit calculation still uses the PIA amounts. I'd recommend requesting a detailed breakdown of both your PIAs from SSA and the spousal benefit calculation so you fully understand the determination.
Thank you! I think I understand now. We'll definitely ask for that detailed breakdown next time we speak with them. It's frustrating they didn't explain it clearly the first time, but at least I now know what questions to ask.
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My friend's husband died last year and she got survivors benefits at 60 without any earnings test! why is that different from retirement?
Survivor benefits and retirement benefits have different rules. While survivors can claim as early as age 60 (with a reduction), they're still subject to the earnings test if they're working and under their FRA. However, the reduction formula is different for survivors than for retirement benefits. If your friend isn't working or earns under the limit, she wouldn't see any withholding due to the earnings test.
When I had to figure out my strategy, I made a spreadsheet comparing different scenarios. Have you run the numbers for: 1) Claim at 62 + part-time work, 2) Work full-time until 63 or 64 then claim, and 3) Work until FRA? Each year you delay claiming increases your benefit by about 7-8%. It's really a math problem specific to your situation.
That's a smart approach. I'll definitely make a spreadsheet comparing the different options. I'm still hoping to find a new full-time job, but at my age that's uncertain. At least now I understand how the earnings limit works if I do need to claim early and work part-time. Thanks for the suggestion!
Diego Vargas
my aunt said u should also look at state taxes cuz some states tax SS and some dont!!! depends where u live
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Luca Ferrari
•That's an excellent point about state taxation. Currently, 12 states tax Social Security benefits to some extent: Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia. Each has different thresholds and exemptions. The remaining 38 states and DC don't tax Social Security benefits at all.
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Anastasia Popov
One strategy to consider for future years (won't help for 2024): if you have the ability to control income sources, you might be able to stay below the taxation thresholds. For example, taking distributions from Roth accounts (which aren't counted in the combined income formula) rather than traditional IRAs, or timing certain investment decisions. This requires advance planning but can reduce the tax impact on your Social Security benefits.
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Omar Mahmoud
•I wish I'd learned about all this BEFORE I retired! I have some money in a Roth that I could have relied on more this year to stay under the threshold. Will definitely plan better for 2025. Thanks for the strategic advice.
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