The Benefits Blog

The heart of the question relates to the adjustment at FRA relating to benefits withheld due to the Annual Earnings Test.  Does that adjustment occur with only retirement benefits, or will that adjustment apply also to survivor or spousal benefits as well?

The adjustment for benefits withheld due t...

Can someone remain on SSDI and Medicare when returning to work? Circumstance: 30-year-old male currently on Social Security Disability due to 3 kidney transplants (1998, 2005, 2019). This fall he returned to work part-time in a warehouse in a temporary seasonal job ending this month, and wonders if ...

I have a client, widower (July, 2016), has been drawing a surviving spouse benefit since he was eligible and just turned 70 on March 1, 2024.  He is wants to switch over to his work record, which he has been delaying. My question is, will he be able to back date his election to his own work record u...

Adapted from Kiplinger’s Retirement Report by Catherine Siskos

The pandemic that shuttered businesses and left 40 million Americans unemployed also means fewer dollars flowing into Social Security’s coffers. What does this economic downturn mean for people already collecting benefits or those who h...

I have a situation where someone has worked and is captured under WEP.  The client is currently 65, and believes that if he works another 6 years, he will collect his full SS benefits and government pension. 

Your client’s understanding that working another six years could allow them to collect the...

I have a question in regard to spousal benefit for my clarification.  If I have a client that is 63 and his wife is 62. She has her own work record but is a much lower income earner. If she elects to turn on her benefit early (age 62) and for a reduced benefit amount and her husband waits until age ...

My client, age 67, is currently collecting his SS benefits. He called SSA to suspend his benefit so he could start to receive DRC’s. SSA told him he could only do so if he paid back the SS benefits that he had received so far. She said that was a recent rule change. Is that correct? If not, is there...

A new case has come to my attention where the ex-wife of over 10 years died. The ex-husband has remarried but remarried after age 60. He went to SSA to file on the ex-wife’s record (widower benefits) and was denied.

• Married over 10 years
• Divorced more than 2 years (not an issue-MDK)
• Remarried a...

Had a quick question I was hoping you could help me with. A client of mine unexpectedly passed away in the middle of January. I just spoke with her husband who claims he didn’t receive her SS check for the month of January. This seemed a bit odd to me as she only just passed in the middle of January...

I just wanted to get your take on the potential tax impact on the COLA increase related to people being taxed more and how that could we impact distributions from their investment portfolios etc. question can you give me some commentary on the impacts of this change? 50% versus 85%.

The annual Cost...