Spending by the Social Security Administration-which includes payments for Social Security and disability benefits as well as Supplemental Security Income payments and the administrative costs for these programs-hit a record $944,143,000,000 in fiscal 2015, according to data published by the U.S. Treasury. Under the law just passed – despite the extraordinary sacrifices she made for decades to raise good children – that benefit is no longer available. An agreement is reached in Washington that will stabilize the Social Security Trust Fund. All Social Security Disability Insurance benefits will continue to be paid over the next 6 years.
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With the restricted application strategy, people who are at least full retirement age can file to receive either a benefit based on their own work record or for a spousal benefit. Let these heroes know they can count on us when they need to take advantage of their earned benefits.
Under the new rules, this strategy will no longer work.
The cost of living adjustments received also would be higher due to the higher monthly benefit. The more income you can create with your financial plan, the less you’ll depend upon the future of Social Security benefits.
You can elect to receive your benefit anytime from 62, the earliest age at which you can begin to collect benefits, to age 70, but there’s a certain age when you’re entitled to full or unreduced retirement benefits. Now applicants who file for benefits are automatically deemed to have filed for both retirement and spousal benefits concurrently, and will automatically receive the greater of the two amounts. Where is the lockbox on Social Security funds? This allowed that benefit to accumulate at 8 percent per year.
Social Security is proud to support the veterans and active duty members of the military.
In Table 5 of the Monthly Treasury Statement for September, the Treasury itemized the various elements that led to the $944,143,000,000 in total spending by the Social Security Administration in fiscal 2015. Probably not. As Taylor Swift eloquently puts it, “Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes”.
From the government’s point of view, the law is simply a matter of closing “unintended loopholes”, as is stated in the text of the legislation. But while it may appear to be a fairly straightforward attempt to stave off the inevitable as far as Social Security funding is concerned, lawmakers and individuals alike need to remember that nothing in the world of Social Security is truly straightforward. Rules affecting surviving spouses have not changed. “For people that are about ready to be beneficiaries of their supplemental retirement, I don’t think we change that”. At the same time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 148,800,000 people who had either a full- or part-time job in the United States.
The budget deal also gives higher-earning ex-spouses an avenue for vindictive action. “Then, when his wife turns 66, she can go in and do a restricted application-take the spousal benefit now and convert to her own larger benefit at 70”. The most recent mortality tables from the Society of Actuaries show that average life expectancy for a 65-year-old male is 3.16 years longer in the highest-income quartile than in the lowest band; for women, the gap is 1.52 years.
“I would say that the file-and-suspend strategy certainly could be construed as a loophole for the wealthy, but also folks that were divorced or widowed had the ability to get additional benefits”, McHale said. The law also leaves a six-month window for anyone who has reached FRA to enact such a strategy under the old rules, with a May 1, 2016 cutoff.
Social Security Choices, a relatively new program that provides technical advice for the Social Security Advisors network, has not yet updated its software. First, a person at least age 66 can continue to file and suspend until April 29, 2016.
Q. You’ve written about strategies for claiming Social Security and my husband and I have been planning our retirement based on a few of these.
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If you are a teacher in one of those states, the rules for collecting a Teacher Retirement System (TRS) pension and Social Security can be confusing and intimidating. Furthermore, Lisa could have done this at any time between age 66 and 70. The only guarantee is that it is unlikely to become simpler anytime soon.
