The Benefits Blog

Scenario is a married couple where the husband is working, and the wife, age 63, is unable to work and currently receiving $300/month from SSDI. Can the disabled spouse qualify for a spousal benefit from the husband’s PIA?

Assuming her husband begins his retirement benefit, the disabled spouse, she...

When you decide to “take a load off” by resting your body on a stool, do you want to rest on a rocky bench that might cause you to either slide off or to force you to exert extra energy to continually stabilize yourself? A stable three-legged stool provides support through careful construction of ea...

I have someone who was told by SSA that if she took SSA based on her spouse’s record, she would be able to receive $3,000 vs her own record of $2,000 but SSA was unable to verify SSA said she would have to retire first and then come back for the real numbers. 

In this situation, it appears that the...

My sister was a stay-at-home mom. She has planned to take half of her husband’s SS benefit when she got to FRA. You told me she should go to the SS Office. She did that today and they informed her that they have not done spousal benefits for 3 years. They told her to sign up on her own online and so...

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?

When Social Security benefits are withheld...

Quick question on the spousal boost.  Let’s say wife has a PIA of $1,000 and husband has a PIA of $3,000. Both are same age — wife starts at 62 and husband starts at FRA. My understanding is that when the husband turns on his SSB, the spousal boost happens automatically, but I recently saw that that...

I have a client who is going to be 65 in Jan. She’s divorced and no longer speaks to her ex. He’s an immigrant, but has worked long enough to get SS and is a little older.  He is already receiving his benefit. Let’s say his benefit is $1,000 per month and she’s entitled to 50%.  If she claims off ex...

Will the wife of an incarcerated ex-husband be eligible for a spousal benefit on her ex-husband’s work history? Would it make a difference if they were not officially divorced?

 The wife of an incarcerated ex-husband may still be eligible for a spousal benefit on her ex-husband’s work record, provi...

I have a client inquiring about the Form SSA-2. Her question is below:   “I understand there’s a form SSA-2 about collecting on your divorced spouse, that my daughter keeps telling me about. When I applied for Social Security, I did have to put in my information about being married and being divorce...

Hope all is well. I have a case that I’m working on right now where I’m trying to estimate a clients social security benefit. Could you possibly help point me in the right direction. Here’s info about the client

• She just turned age 65 and is divorced (divorce happened more than 2 years ago) and...