If a Widow Remarries What Happens to Social Security
If you're thinking about retiring presently or are nearing your 60th birthday, you lot're probably besides starting to wonder more well-nigh Social Security benefits. At that place's a lot to acquire and some of the rules can get circuitous, which tin make understanding how and when to get benefits — and what they include — somewhat of a claiming. Before you brainstorm the process of applying for Social Security, get started by reviewing some of the basics about the program to reply some mutual questions you might take.
The Background and Purpose of Social Security
First things first: What is Social Security? Originally signed into law past President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935, what nosotros phone call Social Security actually refers to what'southward officially known as Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance. It's funded past payroll taxes — money paid out by employees via paycheck deductions and by employers — and is a form of social insurance administered by the U.S. federal authorities. This ways that it'due south a program that involves the government participating in the insurance market place to provide extra aid to certain groups and protect them confronting financial problems that arise after emergencies.
Maybe the all-time-known and largest component of Social Security is the retirement benefits it pays out. In that instance, these payments are intended to keep people who worked lower-wage jobs throughout their lives from living in relative poverty when they leave the workforce as they age. However, the Social Security Administration (SSA) also makes payments to people with disabilities who cannot work and to survivors of workers who've died. According to the SSA, the purposes of these payments are "to provide for the fabric needs of individuals and families, "to protect aged and disabled persons against the expenses of illnesses that may otherwise use up their savings" and "to keep families together."
It's important to note that Social Security benefits are intended to exist supplemental — that is, they're non supposed to serve equally someone'southward sole source of income when they retire. The benefit payments are meant to provide a boost to other retirement income, such as a alimony.
Social Security Eligibility: The Credit System
Depending on your life circumstances, yous could be eligible to receive Social Security benefits at whatever historic period — not only the traditional retirement age of 62. For instance, to receive inability benefits, y'all may be eligible at almost any age as long as yous've worked long enough and recently enough and take a qualifying medical condition that limits your ability to work. Y'all may also be able to receive survivors benefits in some circumstances if you're a surviving family member of a deceased person who "worked long plenty in jobs insured under Social Security to qualify for benefits."
Disability and survivors benefit payments have relatively straightforward eligibility requirements to meet. Social Security retirement benefits do also, but the means eligibility and amounts are determined and the details involved tin can look somewhat complicated at starting time glance. Understanding eligibility for Social Security benefits involves learning about credits first.
Your eligibility for receiving Social Security is based in function on credits that you earn while working. When y'all're employed and Social Security taxes are deducted from your paycheck for receipt past the Internal Acquirement Service (IRS) you start earning credits. These credits are based on the amount of coin you earn each yr, and you tin earn up to four credits per year. For example, in 2020, earning $1,410 in wages at your job earns you one credit. Using this number as another example, once you've earned $5,640 ($1,410 x 4) in wages from your job, yous've earned your 4 credits for the yr and cannot earn more credits until the next twelvemonth. The base amount of money yous need to earn from your job to earn 1 credit increases slightly each year to account for inflation.
To qualify to receive Social Security retirement benefits, you must earn at least forty credits, which equates to x years' worth of work. You don't need to work ten sequent years to earn the credits, all the same. Whatsoever credits you receive remain on your Social Security record, and if you leave a job and render to the workforce years later on, yous tin can brainstorm accumulating credits again until you reach 40 and become eligible for benefits payments.
The number of credits needed to decide your eligibility for disability or survivors benefits depends on your age; generally speaking, the younger you are, the fewer the number of credits is that you need to go eligible. The historic period table on the Social Security Administration'south website tin give you a better idea of the number of credits relative to your historic period that you lot'll need to have earned to determine eligibility for disability or survivors benefits.
What Role Does Your Age Play?
As mentioned, age can exist a determining factor in the number of credits you'll need for eligibility for two types of payments. Even so, when it comes to retirement benefits, your historic period tin can likewise play a role in non only when yous're eligible to start receiving payments only also in the amounts of those payments. In item, yous'll desire to think about the historic period at which you lot decide to start challenge your Social Security retirement payments.
The age when y'all start claiming determines whether you lot receive 100% of your Social Security benefits. If y'all're eligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits, you tin can offset getting them as early as age 62. However, your payment amounts will be less than they are if yous await until what's chosen your "full retirement historic period." This is the historic period at which you lot're eligible to receive 100% of your benefit amount every month, and it'due south typically betwixt ages 66 and 67, depending on the year you were built-in. Then, drawing earlier than your total retirement age results in you receiving a reduced amount in benefits — the Social Security Administration notes that you'll get almost 28% less than you would if yous wait until age 66.
Waiting until you're older than full retirement historic period to quit working and depict benefits tin can also affect the amount y'all receive every month. Because you're working longer, you'll receive a larger monthly amount than if you retired at 66. For each month you delay claiming benefits, the amount you tin receive monthly increases slightly, and if yous wait until age lxx, you'll get 132% of your Social Security benefit corporeality. Once you turn 70 and haven't started claiming nevertheless, your benefit amount won't keep increasing, so that 132% is the most yous tin can get each month if you filibuster claiming to continue working.
Source: https://www.askmoney.com/investing/understanding-your-social-security-benefits?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D1465803%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex