13 Answers to Pressing Social Security Questions
Claiming Social Security benefits can be complicated. Retirees have to figure out the optimal time to apply, estimate the impact of other income on their monthly payments, and determine the best way to take advantage of spousal and survivor benefits, among other things.
We’re here to help. In this article, we answer some common questions about how the system works.
Social Security claiming strategies for couples (and exes)
We often hear about strategies couples can use to get the most from their combined benefits when one spouse has higher lifetime earnings from work. But what’s the best approach if a dual-income couple has a similar earnings history and will be eligible for roughly the same benefit?
The decision to file for benefits shouldn’t be made in a vacuum, says Martha Shedden, president of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts. If the couple has sufficient income from other sources, such as a pension or retirement savings plans, they should wait until they’re both 70 to file for benefits, Shedden says. “That’s going to be the best-case scenario because they’re maximizing benefits for them as a couple,” she says.
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If both partners can wait until age 70 to file, they’ll both benefit from delayed-retirement credits, which increase benefits by 8% a year between full retirement age and age 70. (Full retirement age is 66 for those who were born between 1943 and 1954; it gradually increases to 67 for those born in 1960 or later.)
In instances in which one spouse is the higher earner, it makes sense for that spouse to postpone benefits as long as possible. Consider having the lower-earning spouse file for benefits at full retirement age, or even as early as 62 if necessary. Use the lower-earning spouse’s benefits, along with income from other sources, to pay expenses while the higher earner’s benefits — which will get the biggest boost from delayed-retirement credits — continue to grow until the higher earner turns 70.
How early can you claim survivor benefits after your spouse dies?
Surviving spouses who were married for at least nine months before their spouse’s death are entitled to survivor benefits at age 60, or age 50 if they’re disabled (or at any age if they have a dependent child who is younger than 16 or who became disabled before age 22).
However, if you claim survivor benefits at age 60, you’ll be entitled to only about 71.5% of your late spouse’s benefits, compared with 100% of your late spouse’s benefits if you wait until you reach full retirement age. If your benefits will be less than the survivor benefits, a better strategy is to file for your benefits at age 62 and switch to survivor benefits when you reach full retirement age, which is when those benefits reach their maximum.
Conversely, if your benefit will be larger, you could claim survivor benefits as early as age 60 and allow your benefits — which are eligible for delayed credits — to grow until you reach age 70, at which point you could switch to your benefits. Survivor benefits don’t increase after you reach your full retirement age, so this is the most effective way to take advantage of delayed-retirement credits.
I’m divorced. Can I file for benefits based on my ex-spouse’s earnings record?
You may be eligible for spousal benefits if you were married at least 10 years, you’re currently single, and you’re at least 62 years old.
Whether you qualify to receive these benefits depends on the amount of your retirement benefit (if any) and the amount of the ex-spousal benefit at the time you file. Spousal (and ex-spousal) benefits are a maximum of 50% of the spouse’s full benefit — in other words, the amount received at full retirement age.
If you’ve been divorced for at least two years, you don’t need to wait until your ex has started to collect retirement benefits, and you don’t have to notify them that you’re collecting spousal benefits based on their record. Filing for ex-spousal benefits won’t affect the amount of benefits your ex is eligible to receive, nor will it affect the amount of benefits your ex’s current spouse will receive if your ex remarried. If you’ve been married more than once and meet the other eligibility criteria, you can choose which ex to base your ex-spousal earnings on.
If your ex dies, you may also qualify for survivor benefits, which are even more valuable. In that case, you’re eligible to claim as much as the entire amount of your late ex’s benefits.
How will remarriage affect my eligibility for Social Security survivor benefits?
If you remarry before reaching age 50, you won’t be eligible for disability or survivor benefits based on your deceased former spouse’s work record unless your second marriage ends by divorce or annulment. If you remarry between the ages of 50 and 59, you may qualify for survivor benefits if you’re disabled and unable to work, but otherwise, you’re ineligible for survivor benefits. If you remarry at age 60 or older, you’re eligible for survivor benefits based on your deceased spouse’s record or your new spouse’s record (once you have been married one year), whichever provides the larger benefit.
Working while on Social Security
I filed for Social Security at age 62 but have gone back to work. Can I put my benefits on hold?
If you’re collecting benefits and earn income from a job before you reach full retirement age, Social Security may hold back some of your benefits through what’s known as the earnings test. In 2025, Social Security will withhold $1 of benefits for every $2 you earn above $23,400. If you reach full retirement age in 2025, you can earn up to $62,160 without benefits being held back; after that, Social Security will withhold $1 for every $3 you earn over the exempt amount. Earnings in or after the month you reach full retirement age don’t count toward the earnings test.
You may be able to avoid the earnings test — and boost the amount of your monthly payments — by asking Social Security to withdraw or suspend your benefits. If you filed for benefits within the past 12 months, you can request a withdrawal of benefits and repay the amount you’ve received. By waiting until full retirement age (or later, up to age 70) to restart the clock, you’ll increase the amount of your monthly benefit. You can do this only once.
After the 12-month window, you can’t request a do-over. However, once you reach full retirement age, you can ask Social Security to suspend your benefits until up to age 70. This will enable you to earn delayed-retirement credits of 8% a year, which will increase the amount of your monthly payment when you resume benefits.
I retired midyear, before reaching full retirement age, and filed for Social Security benefits. Will I be penalized because the income I received before I retired exceeded the limit for the earnings test?
Not necessarily, even if you earned more than the annual limit before you stopped working. Midyear retirees who haven’t reached full retirement age are eligible for a monthly test that can be used for only one year, usually the first year of retirement. Those who are eligible for the monthly earnings test can receive 100% of their benefits for any full month the agency considers them retired, regardless of total annual earnings.
In 2025, if you haven’t reached full retirement age (when the earnings test goes away), Social Security considers you retired if you don’t earn more than $1,950 per month. Here’s an example: Suppose you earn $50,000 through September, when you retire from your full-time job at age 63. From October through December, you work part-time (or not at all) and earn less than $1,950 per month. In that case, you’ll receive full Social Security benefits for those months, even though you earned more than $23,400 for the year.
If I work past full retirement age, do I have to worry about the earnings test?
No. Beginning with the month you reach full retirement age, income from a job will no longer reduce your benefits, no matter how much you earn. However, earning income from work could increase the likelihood that you’ll pay taxes on up to 85% of your benefits.
Maximizing your Social Security benefits
How can I increase the amount of my monthly payment?
First, some background: The maximum Social Security check for 2025 is $5,108 per month, up from $4,873 in 2024, but most beneficiaries will receive less than that. In 2025, the average monthly payment is $1,976.
Your monthly benefit is based on your 35 highest-earning years. (To qualify for a benefit at all, you need the equivalent of 10 years of full-time work.) That means if you work for only 28 years, Social Security will use your 28 years of earnings plus seven zeros to calculate your benefit. If you work more than 35 years, Social Security will consider your 35 highest-earning years to calculate your benefit.
Working longer could increase your monthly benefit, particularly if you’re in your highest-earning years and/or took time off to care for children or elderly parents. And even after you stop working, you can increase your monthly payment by delaying benefits. You’re eligible to take benefits as early as age 62, but claiming before your full retirement age reduces your benefit. If your full retirement age is 67 and you claim at 62, for example, your benefits are reduced by 30%. If you wait beyond your full retirement age, you’ll get a delayed-retirement credit for each year until you turn 70.
Social Security boost for public employees
As a state government worker, I was subject to reduced Social Security benefits. How will recent changes in the law affect me?
In early January, former President Biden signed into law a bipartisan bill that repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), federal policies that reduced Social Security benefits for certain workers who receive a public pension. The change will extend full benefits to nearly 3 million retirees. Teachers, firefighters and police officers are among those commonly impacted by the WEP and GPO. The new law, called the Social Security Fairness Act, affects Social Security payments made after December 2023.
Earlier this year, the Social Security Administration made a one-time retroactive payment for benefits going back to January 2024 to retirees who were affected by the WEP and GPO. And starting in April, most affected beneficiaries began receiving their increased monthly benefit. You should have received a notice in the mail explaining the change in your benefits. In cases that are too complex to be processed automatically, it may take more time to process the change in benefits and the retroactive payment, the Social Security Administration says.
The amount that payments are increasing will vary greatly, Social Security says. Some beneficiaries will see only a modest change, while others will receive more than an additional $1,000 a month.
What if I never filed for benefits because I assumed they would be wiped out by the WEP?
You may need to file for benefits at www.ssa.gov/apply. Other Social Security policies still apply, such as a reduction in benefits if you file before you reach full retirement age or are working and subject to the earnings test.
Social Security help for caregivers
If an elderly relative has given me power of attorney for finances, do I have the right to manage Social Security benefits for them?
No, but the Social Security Administration allows caregivers and others to act as a representative payee for a beneficiary. Through this program, you can protect an elderly relative (or other family member) from scams or mismanagement that could affect their benefits. A representative payee has the authority to receive a beneficiary’s payments and use them on the beneficiary’s behalf.
To apply to be a representative payee, make an appointment at a Social Security branch office. You’ll need to complete Form SSA-11-BK (Request to be Selected As Payee) and provide documents to verify your identity.
If you’re a Social Security beneficiary and want to protect your benefits in the event you become incapacitated, you can designate up to three people to act as your representative payee. You can use your my-SocialSecurity online account to make the advance designation, and you can update it at any time. Social Security will ask for your designees’ names, telephone numbers, and, if you choose to provide it, their relationship to you.
Social Security benefits for expats
I’m planning to move to another country. How will that affect my Social Security benefits?
Living abroad won’t affect your Social Security benefits, with a few exceptions (Social Security won’t send payments to Cuba or North Korea, for example). If you plan to be outside the U.S. for 30 days or more, provide Social Security with the name of the country or countries you plan to visit and the date you expect to leave the U.S. Social Security will send you instructions on how to receive your benefits while you’re away.
Every one to two years, the SSA sends a questionnaire to individuals who are receiving Social Security benefits outside of the U.S. If you don’t complete and return this form, Social Security may suspend your benefits.
Social Security solvency concerns
I’m worried that Social Security will run out of money in a few years. With that in mind, doesn’t it make sense to file for benefits as early as possible?
Without congressional action, the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, which funds retiree benefits, is scheduled to be depleted by 2033; the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program, which also accounts for disability benefits, is projected to run out of money in 2035.
Lawmakers, aware that Social Security is overwhelmingly popular with their constituents, have pledged to shore up the fund before that date. But even if that doesn’t happen, Social Security won’t disappear. Instead, benefits will be cut by about 17%.
With that in mind, it may make sense to delay claiming your benefits as long as possible, says Shedden, president of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts. “If there’s a future cut, you’ll get it from a larger benefit instead of a smaller one,” she says.
Get help from a Social Security expert
If you need guidance as you figure out how to maximize your benefits, a Registered Social Security Analyst (RSSA) can help you estimate the amount of benefits you’re in line to receive, identify strategies to increase your monthly payment (such as by waiting until at least your full retirement age to claim benefits), project how much of your benefits will be taxable, and give you a comprehensive picture of all the benefits Social Security provides, including disability and survivor benefits.
Martha Shedden, president and cofounder of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts (NARSSA), created the certification in 2017 after she was unable to find the type of detailed information she needed. To obtain the certification, individuals must complete a five-part educational program through NARSSA, pass the RSSA Competency Final Exam, and meet specific professional requirements. Those who receive the certification are also equipped with a software program called Roadmap, which gives clients a personalized picture of their benefit outlook.
You can find an RSSA through the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts’ website or by asking for referrals from a financial adviser or other trusted professional. They can see you in person or meet virtually.
Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.
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