Social Security Survivor Benefits for Spouses

Clients often think of Social Security for retirement planning, but Social Security survivor benefits, especially for spouses, should be considered as well.

Social Security is the main retirement income source for more than 60% of Americans, which is why it is usually the focus of news about retirement income. However, there’s more to Social Security survivor benefits, including how it helps surviving spouses. Social Security survivor benefits can be a critical part of retirement securities when families lose a loved one, says the article “Understanding the Basics Of Social Security Benefits for Surviving Spouses” from Forbes.

The rules about Social Security survivor benefits for spouses can be complicated. There are four basic categories of survivor benefits. Here’s a closer look:

Survivor benefits at age 60. At their full retirement age, the surviving spouse can receive full survivor benefits based on the deceased individual retirement benefit. The amount from the survivor benefit is based on the deceased spouse’s earnings. At full retirement age, the survivor receives 100% of the deceased individuals’ benefit or their projected benefit at full retirement age. If they collect benefits before full retirement age, you’ll get between 70% to 99% of the deceased spouse’s benefit.

You cannot receive both your benefit and your deceased spouse’s benefit. In most cases, it makes sense to defer whichever is the higher benefit, taking the lower benefit first while the larger benefit continues to increase.

Lump sum payment. This was originally intended to help survivors with certain funeral and end-of-life costs. However, the amount has never been indexed for inflation. Therefore, it won’t cover much. To get the payment, the surviving spouse must apply for it within the first two years of the deceased individual’s date of death.

Disabled benefit. If you qualify as disabled, you can receive survivor benefits as early as age 50. Divorced spouses can also receive survivor benefits, if the marriage lasted for at least ten years. If you remarry, you cannot receive survivor benefits. However, if you remarry after age 60, or age 50 if disabled, you can continue to receive survivor benefits based on your deceased spouse’s benefit, if you were married for at least ten years. You can even switch over to a spousal benefit based on the new spouses’ work history at age 62, if the new benefit would be higher.

Caring for children under age 16. A surviving spouse of any age caring for a child who is under age 16 may receive 75% of the worker’s benefit amount. The child is also eligible for a survivor benefit of 75% of the deceased parent’s benefits. A divorced spouse taking care of the deceased ex’s child younger than 16 is also entitled to 75% of the deceased spouse’s benefit. In this case, the ex does not need to meet the ten-year marriage rule, and they can be any age to collect benefits.

You can also see this article from Mary Galligan that discusses the timing of these benefits.  https://galligan-law.com/social-security-benefits-what-happens-when-a-spouse-dies/

One thing to consider: the rules surrounding Social Security benefits are complex, especially when it comes to coordinating benefits with an overall financial plan. Contact our office and your financial planner to learn how these rules may help protect your family and children.

Reference: Forbes (Dec. 30, 2019) “Understanding the Basics Of Social Security Benefits for Surviving Spouses”

Continue ReadingSocial Security Survivor Benefits for Spouses

Scam Alert: Is It Real or a Robocall?

Robocallers target seniors with phone scams
Robocallers target seniors with phone scams.

AARP recently put out an alert to seniors with advice on how not to fall for robocall scams. Robocalls are a daily annoyance at best and, at worst, a way for criminals to wipe out your savings. Law enforcement officials working on catching these crooks face daunting challenges because telephone scammers are highly organized and operate out of many different countries. However, there are some key phrases and tactics these con artists use. This information can help you answer the question: Is it a robocall?

Experts advise people not to answer any phone call, if you do not recognize the number of the caller. This advice used to be more useful before the scammers found ways to hijack Caller ID and mask their calls, as coming from people or organizations you know or trust.

The scams tend to follow certain patterns, depending on the type of fraud the crooks are trying to perpetrate. Here are some examples:

Social Security Scam

You might get a phone call in which the caller tells you that someone has stolen your Social Security number and is using your number to commit crimes. This is a scam. The Social Security Administration notifies people of essential information by regular mail, not by calling people on the phone.

The caller will try to get you to give private information. Again, this is a scam. The Social Security Administration does not call people and ask for personal information.

These callers often threaten people that there is a warrant for their arrest and the only way to keep from getting arrested and thrown into jail, is to give them the personal information they want. Only con artists make these threats. The Social Security Administration does not call people and threaten to arrest them and throw them into jail.

For your peace of mind: if you get a call like this, hang up right away, then contact your local Social Security office to make sure that there are no issues with your Social Security number. If you make the call to the Social Security office yourself, you will know you are talking to the right people.

Jury Duty Scam

You get a phone call from someone pretending to work at the police department or sheriff’s office. The caller accuses you of missing jury duty and says that there is a warrant for your arrest. You must pay a fine to people who pretend to be the police.

This is a scam. Jury duty notifications are by mail, not by phone. Courts also do not telephone people to demand payments. Courts send notices of fines by mail. The police and sheriff’s department do not call people to collect fine payments.

If someone calls you with this scheme, hang up right away. For your peace of mind: Contact the jury administrator of your county, city or local federal courts to see if you missed jury duty.

These scam artists prey on your fear of getting arrested, even when you know you did nothing wrong. The fraudsters will bully, harass, and threaten you to try to steal your money. You cannot talk them out of what they are doing or get them to admit that they are committing a crime. Your best option is to hang up immediately, then contact the relevant legitimate government agency to verify that what the caller said was false.

References:

AARP. “How to Recognize a Robocall.” (accessed May 2, 2019) https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/recognize-a-robocall.html

Suggested Key Terms: 

Continue ReadingScam Alert: Is It Real or a Robocall?

Social Security Benefits – What Happens When a Spouse Dies?

Social Security benefits can change after the death of a spouse.
What happens to Social Security on the death of a spouse?

Imagine both spouses are receiving Social Security when one spouse dies. What will happen with their Social Security checks?  How does the survivor obtain death certificates? How complicated will it be to obtain survivor benefits?

First, what happens to the Social Security monthly benefits? Social Security benefits are always one month behind. The check you receive in May, for example, is the benefit payment for April.

Second, Social Security benefits are not prorated. If you took benefits at age 66, and then turned 66 on September 28, you would get a check for the whole month of September, even though you were only 66 for three days of the month.

If your spouse dies on January 28, you would not be due the proceeds of that January Social Security check, even though he or she was alive for 28 days of the month.

So, when a spouse dies, the monies for that month may have to be returned. The computer-matching systems linking the government agencies and banks may make this unnecessary, if the benefits are not issued. Or, if the benefits were issued, the Treasury Department may simply interrupt the payment and return it to the government, before it reaches a bank account.

There may be a twist, depending upon the date of the decedent’s passing. Let’s say that a spouse dies on April 3. Because he or she lived throughout the entire month of March, that means the benefits for March are due, even though they are paid in April. If a check was not issued or sent back because of the date, it should eventually be reissued.

Obtaining death certificates is usually handled by the funeral director, or the city, county or state bureaus of vital statistics. You will need more than one original death certificate for use with banks, investments, etc. The Social Security office may or may not need one, as they may receive proof of death from other sources, including the funeral home.

If you were already receiving spousal benefits on the deceased spouse’s work record, Social Security will in most cases switch you automatically to survivor benefits when the death is reported.  Otherwise, you will need to apply for survivor benefits by phone at the 800 number for Social Security or in person at your local Social Security office.

If you had only received a spousal benefit as a non-working spouse and you are over full retirement age, then you receive whatever your spouse was receiving at the time of his or her death. If you were getting your own retirement benefits, keep in mind that you will not receive a survivor benefit in addition to your own retirement benefits. Social Security will pay the higher of the two amounts.

Survivor benefits will begin effective on the month of your spouse’s death. If your spouse dies on June 28, then you will be due survivor benefits for the entire month of June, even if you were only a widow or widower for three days of the month. No matter what type of claim you file, you will also receive a one-time $255 death benefit.

Reference: Tuscon.com (March 13, 2019) “Social Security and You: What to do when a loved one dies”

Suggested Key Terms:

Continue ReadingSocial Security Benefits – What Happens When a Spouse Dies?