How much work is needed for SSA retirement?

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Howard Kossover

Q: For Social Security retirement, I have heard both that you need 10 years of work and 35 years of work. Which is right?

A: In a way, both are correct but they actually involve two different topics. One topic is the amount of work required to be eligible for Social Security retirement. The other is how the amount of your retirement is calculated.

All Social Security retirement, survivors or disability benefits have a work requirement that varies with the specific program. You are insured on your record when you have enough work for a given benefit. The amount of work needed is measured by credits, also called quarters of coverage since you can earn a maximum of four quarters per year based on your gross wages and net self-employment earnings. In 2013, earnings of $1,160 provide one credit so earnings of at least $4,640 during the year provide all four.

For Social Security retirement, a person needs 40 credits, which is where the 10 years comes from. Becoming insured for retirement can take more than 10 years if you have low earnings in a year. With less than 40 credits you are not insured, 40 or more means you have enough work to receive a retirement benefit. Once insured status is established, your number of credits has nothing to do with how much the benefit amount will be.

Your entire career work history is important in determining your own Social Security retirement amount. To compute this amount, the best 35 years of your work earnings are used. While the highest earnings are often just before retirement, this is not always the case. If you do not have 35 years of work, zero years are used to reach 35 years. These best 35 years of earnings are weighted for inflation as part of computing your full retirement age (FRA) amount. Depending on your actual age when starting benefits, this FRA amount is adjusted up or down as needed to arrive at your retirement amount.

The online Social Security Statement states if you are insured for the different SSA programs and shows your earnings record history. See your Statement by creating a my Social Security account at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount/. A sample Statement is viewable at that link.

Thank you Patty & George

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Howard Kossover

From the history section of the Social Security website:

April 6, 2011 Entertainment icons George Takei and Patty Duke teamed up to tell Americans to Boldly Go to www.socialsecurity.gov to apply for retirement, disability, Medicare, and so much more. The two celebrities joined forces in a new campaign to help the Social Security Administration promote its online services as an easy and secure way for people to do business with the agency.

Linked from the Retirement section of the Social Security website, watch when Patty Duke applied online for Social Security retirement … in her pajamas.

View many of their public service announcements for television at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pressoffice/psa-video.html.

SSA Survivors benefits: when a second marriage ends, then what?

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Howard Kossover

Q: I was widowed after a long marriage, remarried for a few years and then divorced. At age 61, I am not married now. Can I receive Social Security benefits through the record of my first husband?

A: Probably you can, assuming that he had worked long enough to be insured for Social Security.

The general rule concerning Social Security survivors benefits and remarriage is that you cannot get widow or widower’s benefits if you remarry before age 60. Remarriage after age 60, or age 50 if you are disabled, will not prevent you from getting survivor benefits based on your deceased spouse’s work record. Survivor benefits are the same for both women and men.

People die at all ages and there variations of Social Security survivors benefits. Contact Social Security and ask about your specific situation before getting remarried.

What happens if a subsequent marriage ends by death or divorce? If by death, there is the possibility of Social Security survivors benefits as widow or widower through the record of either the more recent or the prior spouse. If either marriage ended in divorce, but had lasted at least 10 years, there is also the possibility of benefits as a divorced surviving spouse.

Reduced age based survivor benefits can start at age 60. Reduced retirement based on your own work can start at age 62. Estimated Social Security benefits on your own work are available online at www.socialsecurity.gov. An estimate on the record of someone else, such as your first husband, is not available online. Contact Social Security for this estimate. If eligible for both survivors benefits and from your own work, you can start the lower amount first, and then switch to the larger amount in the future.

More about Social Security survivors benefits is at www.socialsecurity.gov. Also read the SSA booklet “Survivors Benefits” at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10084.html or available from any SSA office.

Contact Social Security by calling the national toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), or your local office.

Budget update in March SSA newsletter

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Howard Kossover

Did You Know? You can read and subscribe to a free, monthly, Social Security Administration electronic newsletter at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/newsletter/.

Along with other articles, the current Social Security Update has highlights from the March 14, 2013, testimony before Congress by Carolyn Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security.

Her testimony before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, discussed service delivery challenges facing the agency including budget issues, related to and separate from sequestration. Read her full testimony at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/legislation/testimony_031413.html.

In her testimony, Ms. Colvin noted services provided by the Social Security Administration in Fiscal Year 2012. In part, she said:

“Few government agencies touch as many people as we do. The programs we administer provide a financial safety net for millions of Americans, and many consider them the most successful large-scale Federal programs in our Nation’s history. The responsibilities with which we have been entrusted are significant. In FY 2012, we:

· Paid over $800 billion to almost 65 million beneficiaries;
· Handled over 56 million transactions on our National 800 Number Network;
· Received over 65 million calls to field offices nationwide;
· Served about 45 million visitors in over 1,200 field offices nationwide;
· Completed over 8 million claims for benefits and 820,000 hearing dispositions;
· Handled almost 25 million changes to beneficiary records;
· Issued about 17 million new and replacement Social Security cards;
· Posted over 245 million wage reports;
· Handled over 15,000 disability cases in Federal District Courts;
· Completed over 443,000 full medical continuing disability reviews (CDR); and
· Completed over 2.6 million non-medical redeterminations of SSI eligibility.”

Also within her testimony, Ms. Colvin stated ongoing budget driven challenges facing the agency, related to and separate from sequestration. In part, she said:

“The current budget situation is exacerbating the negative effects of over two straight years of funding levels nearly a billion dollars below the President’s budget requests. With fewer employees to serve our customers, we are seeing serious signs of service deterioration. Examples include:

- This week, close to 12,000 visitors to our field offices will have to wait over 2 hours to be served, a figure that has almost tripled in just the last 4 months;

-The average wait time for field office visitors without an appointment increasing by 40 percent, from just 21 minutes in FY 2010 to about 30 minutes through January of FY 2013;

-Our 800-number average busy rate increasing from 4.6 percent of all calls in FY 2010 (which equates to 2.6 million calls) to about 15 percent of all calls through January of FY 2013 (which equates to 3.3 million calls and puts us on-pace for a projected 10.5 million calls for FY 2013); and

-Our average speed of answer for the 800-number more than doubling from about 3.5 minutes in FY 2010 to over 7.5 minutes through January of FY 2013.”

Several articles are in Social Security Update each month. Read and subscribe to this free electronic newsletter at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/newsletter/.

Phishing – computer fraud warning

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Howard Kossover

The Social Security website, www.socialsecurity.gov, has a warning about a “phishing” computer fraud.

This particular warning is about a false email message pretending to promote use of my Social Security accounts. An unsolicited email contains links not related to the Social Security Administration, which, if followed, could result in theft of your personal information.

Emails of this type are not from Social Security. SSA does not send emails to promote my Social Security nor does agency personnel make cold calls for this. Official Social Security letters are sent by regular surface mail.

Establishing your my Social Security account is a good idea. The direct link to do so is http://www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount/ or reach it through the Social Security homepage, www.socialsecurity.gov.

A personal my Social Security account can be established by anyone at least age 18, with different services available depending if the person is receiving Social Security benefits or not.

Protect your personal information. Read the phishing alert at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount/internetphishingalert.html.

Changing from spouse to survivors benefits

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Howard Kossover

Q: Both my father-in-law and my dad died over the past year. Social Security started sending an increased widows amount to my mother-in-law automatically but my mother had to complete paperwork. Why the difference?

A: Before discussing some possible reasons, this is a good point to state that Social Security should always be contacted when there is a death in the family.

Social Security benefits do not start “automatically” on their own, even if the work needed is not readily seen by the public. Action must be taken within the Social Security Administration to either start or change benefits paid. Contacting Social Security, either by calling the national toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), or a local office, provides opportunity to answer your questions and to take action to get any benefits due paid.

Depending on what benefits were received prior to the death, an application is not always needed. The process is the same whether Social Security survivors benefits are payable to a widow or widower.

For one example, have husband and wife each receive Social Security retirement based on their individual work history. He receives from his work, she from hers. The two records are independently established. When either dies, an application is needed from the widow or widower for any survivors benefits to be paid. In addition to determining if any survivor benefits are payable, development includes establishing the marital relationship, usually with the marriage certificate. This was not needed before because each person was receiving only through his or her own work record.

Now use an example where either husband or wife had been receiving a spousal benefit, even if also receiving through his or her own retirement work record. When the family sees the change to a survivors benefit as “automatic”, this is usually the situation. For simplicity, say the wife was eligible as a spouse on the husband’s record and he dies first. When notified of his death, action within Social Security is taken to change her benefits from that of wife (spouse) to widow (survivor). No application is needed. Since she was eligible as a spouse, Social Security had previously established that she would be eligible for a survivors benefit if widowed and the marital relationship was already developed.

Even when both people received Social Security on the same record, as in the preceding example, sometimes paperwork, although not a complete application, is required to change a Social Security spousal benefit to husband or wife to a survivors benefit to a widower or widow. An example is if the surviving spouse is younger than his or her personal survivors full retirement age (FRA). Starting a benefit when younger than FRA results in reduced benefits. Documentation is required to show that the person chose to start reduced survivors benefits rather than wait for a higher benefit in the future.

Survivors benefits are not always payable. For example, if the survivors own Social Security retirement amount was higher than the one received by his or her deceased spouse, receipt of an ongoing, monthly, survivors benefit is unlikely although a one-time payment might be possible.

Always contact Social Security when there is a death in the family.

Born on first of month – FRA and the retirement test

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Howard Kossover

Q: I reach my full retirement age (FRA) of 66 on May 1, 2013. Is there any significance to waiting until age 66 ½ to start my Social Security retirement? That is when I plan to retire.

A: You can start your Social Security retirement with whatever month you think best, if you meet all requirements at the time.

If starting SSA retirement when older than full retirement age, your monthly amount would be more than the full retirement age (FRA) amount. If starting before FRA, the amount would be less than the FRA amount.The amount of increase or reduction depends on the specific number of months involved, not your age in years.

Being born on the first day of the month is important for you. Legal precedent states that a person attains their age on the day before their birthday. When born on the first of the month, Social Security figures your benefit amount and your full retirement age as if your birthday was in the previous month. With a birthday of May 1, you are considered to reach FRA in April. Consider this when deciding when to start your Social Security retirement.

Estimate your full retirement age (FRA) amount with the Retirement Estimator in the SSA Retirement Planner section (www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/). Then, use your estimated FRA amount with the “compute the effect of early or delayed retirement” calculator to estimate amounts for specific months before or after FRA. This calculator is at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/quickcalc/early_late.html#calculator.

How much will you earn in 2013? The earnings limit (annual earnings test) for people turning age 66, their full retirement age, in 2013 is $40,080. A special monthly, one time, earnings test exists and usually used in the first year of retirement if high earnings are expected that year. Depending on your anticipated 2013 earnings, you might decide to start benefits with January, with a smaller monthly benefit, even though you plan to continue working until May. Use the tools mentioned above to estimate benefits starting with any month. The earnings test stops with the month you reach full retirement age. With no limit on your earnings, starting your Social Security at FRA is another option even if you continue to work.

Representative payee – use of Social Security funds

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Howard Kossover

Representative payees are routinely appointed for children. With rare exception, a child under age 18 will have a representative payee appointed to handle his or her Social Security benefits. If the child remains eligible past age 18 and assuming no capability issue exists, benefits are sent to him or her directly, without a representative payee. Social Security benefits for children are essentially the same whether due to a parent’s retirement, death or disability.

Based on a question received this week, today’s topic involves the use of Social Security funds received on behalf of a child by the representative payee. How SSA funds are to be used is the same for an adult.

The child involved receives Social Security survivor benefits through the work record of a deceased parent. The surviving parent, representative payee for the child’s SSA benefits, is employed and taking care of the usual family expenses. Since the parent is handling expenses, the question was if they could save the Social Security survivor benefits for future need. With some caveats, the general answer is yes.

Referring to A Guide For Representative Payees, SSA publication 05-10076, the primary use of Social Security funds is to make sure the beneficiary’s basic day-to-day needs for food and shelter are met. Here, the child is the beneficiary but this applies to adults as well. After basic needs are met, Social Security benefits can be used for the person’s medical and dental care, if not covered by health insurance, and for personal needs, such as clothing and recreation. Remaining funds are to be saved for future need, preferably in an interest-bearing account, separately identified as belonging to the beneficiary.

Here, the parent is independently taking care of the child’s expenses. Since basic food and shelter plus additional financial needs of the child are met, saving the monthly Social Security survivor benefits for future need appears to be appropriate. If unmet needs existed, saving the Social Security benefits would serve little purpose and would not be in the child’s, or other beneficiary, best interests.

If you are now a representative payee or anticipate applying to be one for someone soon, review the representative payee section on the Social Security website, www.socialsecurity.gov. For often asked questions, go to the representative payee FAQ section.

One more thing: unlike Social Security benefits, eligibility for the income based Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program has income and resource limits. Combined with other resources, saved funds can end SSI eligibility. If you are representative payee for a person receiving SSI, or if you receive SSI yourself, read What You Need To Know When You Get Supplemental Security Income (SSI), publication 05-11011.

Publications are available online, by calling the national toll-free number 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) or from any Social Security office.

On behalf of someone else: representative payee

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Howard Kossover

The previous post was about working with the Social Security Administration concerning the benefits of another person. It was assumed that the other person could contact Social Security on their own but wanted you to do so for them. Today we move along to what happens if the person cannot help themself.

Recall that Social Security cannot recognize power of attorney. Power of attorney is a legal process where one individual grants a third party the authority to transact certain business for that individual. They can be for different purposes but overall are not recognized by the Treasury Department for purposes of negotiating federal payments, including Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks. Having power of attorney does not let you transact business with Social Security on behalf of someone else.

Perhaps Mom, Dad, a sibling or other adult is no longer capable of taking care of their business and you now handle all their affairs. It is no longer that you are helping as a convenience. You are handling affairs because the person no longer can do so themselves.

If so, file application to be representative payee. A representative payee is an individual or organization appointed by the Social Security Administration to receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits on behalf of a person who cannot manage or direct the use of his or her money. Acting on behalf of the person, a representative payee is responsible for everything related to Social Security or SSI benefits that a capable beneficiary would do for himself or herself.

Appointment of a representative payee is not taken lightly. While minor children almost always require a representative payee, adult beneficiaries are presumed to be capable of managing their own benefits. Evidence must establish the need to appoint a payee for an adult.

Being appointed means the representative payee agrees to follow Social Security Administration rules for handling of related funds, including reporting on how funds are used. Payees are appointed to manage Social Security and SSI funds only. A representative payee has no legal authority to manage non-Social Security related income or medical matters. As a representative payee, you must know what the beneficiary’s needs are so you can decide how benefits can best be used for his or her personal care and well-being. This is especially important if the person does not live with you.

This helps protect beneficiaries. Even if you have power of attorney or are guardian for a parent or other adult, file a representative payee application if he or she is incapable of managing their own Social Security or SSI benefits. To learn more, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/payee or read “A Guide For Representative Payees” at http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10076.html or available from any SSA office.

Social Security: Information & Updates

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Tag Archives: retirement

Thank you Patty & George

Budget update in March SSA newsletter

Phishing – computer fraud warning

On behalf of someone else: representative payee