Insights on receiving SS lump-sum
 

There exist ways to receive lump-sum payment from Social Security.
The following article shows how and the pros and cons.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/a-wind...155816922.html

When you and your spouse retire, assuming both have worked their entire lives, do you both collect full social security or do married people get a reduced combined amount?

Florence's SS amount is based on what she earned during her time here as is mine. If I go before she does she gets a percentage of my amount but I believe loses her own in the process. If she goes before me I get nowt from her SS payment.

It was funny, last year I sold some stock with options I had from TI. So they reported it as W-2 income causing the SS folks to recalculate my payment.

I can tell this is going to get complicated... :)

Oh indeed, suppose the wife was the higher earner she would hardly want just a percentage of her husbands lower payment. They can be quite arbitrary as well. When I continued working past 65 tey would not let me refuse to take payment. As a result I was taxed at the maximum rate with that added to my salary. Then at 70.5 I was also forced to take the minimum from my 401k so that got taxed at the max, and all the crap was during Shrub's reign.:rolleyes:

So SS is um...sexist?

I thought you could work as long as you wanted. I didn't realize you "had" to take SS when eligible....

That is the theory, maybe I could have hired a lawyer - and paid him as much as I lost through taxes.:rolleyes:

How it really is:

'Primary' as used below, is whichever of a married couple has the higher SS entitlement. 'Spouse' is the person married to the 'primary.'

Spouse is entitled to spousal benefit of 50% of 'primary's' amount while both are collecting, so together they get 150%. If primary dies first, then spouse gets spousal benefit of 100% amount from then on.

But, if spouse worked and is entitled on his/her own account, he/she gets 100% of that entitlement, if it is greater than what he/she would get on primary's account. OTOH, if his/her entitlement is less, he/she just gets the spousal benefit, nothing extra.

If you really want to get into the nuances, there are various strategies available in which one spouse takes benefits earlier than the other. See a CPA. You can get an idea what the possibilities are here: http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/..._security.html

I've never heard of a couple getting 150%. Although, the rest of your post is accurate.

You never have to take Social Security. But increases in your entitlement for waiting, called 'delayed retirement credits,' stop at age 70. After that, it's simply 'use it or lose it,' every month.

Your entitlement can still go up after that, but only if you are still working and making good enough money.

One spouse or both will likely trigger a reduction by starting getting payments below 'full retirement age." But yes, the basic idea is Spouse A gets 100%, Spouse B gets 50%, or their own, whichever is greater.

for a bunch more detail, see http://moneyover55.about.com/od/soci...usebenefit.htm

BTW, here's a summary of the OP (remember the OP?)

1. You can get up to six months of benefits as a lump sum, if you file for benefits up to six months after your FRA (Full Retirement Age), and ask for the benefits starting at your FRA. Your other option is to get an increased monthly amount, but no back-benefits.

2. You can get up to five years or so of benefits as a lump sum by first filing at your FRA, then suspending benefits, and then asking for all your benefits from your FRA to age 70 when you reach age 70. If you do this, you get the big lump sum, but your benefit going forward is the amount you'd have gotten if you'd started at your FRA, without any credit for waiting until age 70. This is a strategy that will make sense only under certain circumstances.

Yes, that's right. I mis understood your previous post.

I've worked with the elderly for nearly twenty years and, it is not unusual for a struggling couple to divorce legally, but stay together, so they can each get their full SS benefit.

"What a country!"

I must be missing something. If 'their full SS benefit' is greater than the 50% spousal benefit, that's what they get without divorcing, isn't it?

Drinkin' vodka eh? :D

Uhhhh..... I'm sorry donquixote.... My thinking is fuzzy. Am trying to keep up with this thread while getting my treatment. Not doing so well with heavy thinking right now.

I'll have to stick to lighter topics til I can pull myself together more.

Healing vibes headed your way Barbara. Try the rum cake if you head over to a dispensary. Good stuff or so my sis in law tells me. ;)

Good luck, Barbara. Hope it all goes well.

John

Thanks Bob.

I think I'm mixing up SS benefits with Medicare issues....

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Thanks, Boreas.

No apology even slightly necessary. Become well!

DQ that was what I thought, but I was told that I had to take it. Because I was making good money it increased every year until I retired at 73

In our prayers Barbara.

That is clearer now.

Best wishes Babara.

BTW it is nice to live in a country that has the best medical facilities and
people.

I knew I could count on you, JJill!

It's a better day today!