The Benefits Blog

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...

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...

I just wanted to clarify my last email and I thank you so much for your expertise and help. I have a sixty-two-year-old woman who was married to a gentleman for over fourteen years they divorced ten years ago.  She never remarried, he did. He is now seventy-two and drawing Social Security retirement...

Do Social Security statements include DRC’s?

Yes, Social Security benefit statements do include Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs). DRCs are earned when you delay taking your Social Security benefits beyond your Full Retirement Age (FRA). For every month you delay taking benefits past FRA, your bene...

I have a question about starting retirement benefits after FRA. I understand that if someone turns 68 in February 2023 and they start benefits any time after FRA month in 2023, then the monthly benefit amount will not increase for DRCs. Individual will only receive his/her PIA. For example, if you d...

The husband is FRA but plans to continue working as an orthodontist and is eligible for the max benefit based on his income. He has a 20-year-old disabled child with Down Syndrome. His spouse has been talking with the Social Security Administration and was told the child is eligible for $680 month. ...

I have a client who delayed his benefit after FRA for 4 months which equates to a total of $60 (DRC) which will be added in January. His current benefit is $3,488 a month gross.  What is the order of applying DRCs and COLA or is this a simultaneous calculation?

When it comes to applying Delayed Ret...

We have a client who called SSA. My primary question is how could the client be getting the exact same amount of Benefit if he files in November compared to filing at FRA this past July. To me it doesn’t make sense but she swears she called three times. Three SSA representatives, and they all said t...

I understood that surviving spouse benefits include any Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs) earned by the deceased. However, I found information online stating that if a person dies before age 70 after delaying benefits past Full Retirement Age, the surviving spouse only receives benefits based on the...

I have a client who is considering waiting to age 70 to draw her benefit. Her husband started drawing his benefit at age 66.  There are 9 years difference in their ages. He is currently 67 and she is 58. If she postpones this decision and he dies before she reaches age 70, is she able to draw off hi...