Get Ssa Benefits While Living Abroad
U.S. citizens can travel to or live in most, but not all, foreign countries and still receive their Social Security benefits. You can find out if you can receive benefits overseas by using the Social Security Administrations payment verification tool. Once you access the tool, pick the country youre visiting or living in from the drop-down menu options.
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Can I Still Collect Spouse And Survivor Benefits After Divorce
You may be eligible for spousal benefits based on your ex-spouses earnings history if you were married for at least 10 years, have been divorced for at least two years, and both you and your ex-spouse have reached age 62.
These benefits include the same 50% that applies to married couples. But as with survivor benefits, if you earned a government pension while not paying into Social Security, your benefit could be reduced as a result.
Should your ex-spouse pass away, you may also be eligible for survivor benefits. You could receive the same benefits as a widow or widower, without affecting the benefits of other survivors. Similarly, if your ex-spouse remarries, you can still receive benefits without impacting the benefits of his or her current spouse.
Maximum Benefit Set To Increase
As expected, the maximum Social Security benefit for a worker retiring at full retirement age will also increase in 2023, from $3,345 to $3,627.
Its important to note that this maximum applies to those retiring at the full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born after 1960.
The maximum will be different for those who retire before the full retirement age, because benefits are reduced in that situation.
The same applies for those who retire after the full retirement age, a strategy that can max out your benefit check.
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States That Reduce Social Security Taxation Based On Age Or Income
Retirees from ages 55 to 64 are able to deduct up to $20,000 in retirement income, including Social Security benefits, and those 65 or older can deduct up to $24,000. As of this year, Colorado residents can deduct all federally taxable Social Security benefits.
Retirees whose adjusted gross income is than $75,000 for a single filer and $100,000 for joint filers can deduct most or all of their benefit income, according to Investopedia. For people who make more than these thresholds, they can still deduct 75% of Social Security benefit payments.
In Kansas, if your adjusted gross income is $75,000 or less, you dont have to pay state taxes on your benefits, no matter your filing status.
Although Social Security is taxable in Missouri, many seniors will not have to, specifically those who have an adjusted gross income of less than $85,000 or $100,000 , according to SmartAsset.
For many retirees in Montana, Social Security is taxable. However, taxpayers who make less than $25,000 and $32,000 can deduct all of their Social Security retirement income, according to SmartAsset.
Currently, Social Security benefits are still taxable in Nebraska, though on a sliding scale based on adjusted gross income, according to SmartAsset. However, thanks to recent legislation, the state will phase out the state income tax on benefits by 2025, according to AARP.
Working Can Mean Lower Benefits Until You Reach Full Retirement Age
You can collect Social Security benefits if you are still working and earning income. But if you earn more than a certain amount from your workand haven’t reached your full retirement ageyour benefit will temporarily be smaller. Here’s a rundown of how earned income can reduce your Social Security benefits.
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Eligible Family Members Include:
- Ex-spouses, if the marriage lasted for at least 10 years and they have not remarried
- Children under 18, or up to 19 if still enrolled in high school
- Children of any age who were disabled before 22 — that is, not earning more than $1,260 per month in 2020, having a medical condition that results in severe functional limitations and that is expected to last 12 months or longer or result in death
Spouses and ex-spouses must be at least 62 in order to claim benefits, and spouses and children must wait for the worker to begin claiming benefits themselves before they can claim family benefits on their record.
The Two Exceptions To Know Around The 1 Year Marriage Requirement
Normally, you must be married for at least 12 continuous months to meet the spousal benefit duration-of-marriage requirement. However, there are two exceptions to this rule.
Exception 1
If you marry someone who is the natural mother or father of your child, the one year requirement is waived.
Be the natural mother or father of the workers biological son or daughter i.e., this requirement is met if a live child was born to the number-holder and claimant although the child need not be alive.
Exception 2
The 1-year requirement is also waived if you were entitled to Social Security benefits on someone elses work record in the month before you were married.
An example of these benefits would be spousal benefits, survivor benefits or parents benefits.
For example, lets assume you will be eligible for a spousal benefit from your ex-husband Joe. If you remarry, you wouldnt have to wait the full 12 months to get a spousal benefit from your new spouse. Instead, youd be immediately eligible.
This topic is closely related to the Social Security Survivor Benefit. Ive written an in-depth but easy-to-understand article titled Social Security Survivor Benefits: The Complete Guide to Who Gets What and How to Calculate It if you want to learn more.
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What Is Social Security
Social Security is the term used for the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program in the United States, which is run by the Social Security Administration , a federal agency. Though it is best known for retirement benefits, it also provides survivor benefits and income for workers who become disabled.
As of June 2022, more than 70.2 million Americans were collecting benefits. Lets look at how Social Security works and how much money you can expect to get from it.
How Much Social Security Will I Get If I Make $100000 A Year
Heres how much your Social Security benefits will be if you make anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000 per year. The average Social Security benefit is around $1,544. With inflation on the rise, retirees are expected to get as much as a 6% cost-of-living increase in their 2022 checks to shore up their budgets.
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When Does Social Security Benefits Recalculate
Social Security benefits are evaluated each year. That is, the Social Security Administration reviews benefits each year for the previous years income. If the latest year is one of your highest-earning years, your benefit is recalculated to reflect the increased benefit duewhich is retroactive to January of the year after you earned the money.
Can I Collect My Retirementbenefits Early
You can start collecting Social Security as early as age 62 but theres a catch. If you collect before you reach your full retirement age , youll receive a lower monthly payment permanently. For example, if your FRA is 67, but you begin to claim benefits at 62, youre signing up to get 30% less. However, this reduction will decrease for each month you wait after age 62, up until your FRA. Think of your FRA as your break-even point.
Age to receive full Social Security benefits2
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Year born |
- equal opportunities, or
- social inclusion and participation in society.
Incapacity, by contrast, refers to the situation where people aretoo sick to work, or unable to do work that they did previously.Disability might be one reason for incapacity, but so might besickness, or a range of fluctuating conditions which affect people fromday to day or month to month. The aims of provision for incapacityinclude
- social protection and insurance
- income maintenance, and income smoothing
- economic efficiency, by excusing some people from work, or
- early retirement.
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Is Social Security Taxable
It depends on your income. Youll be taxed on up to 50% of your benefits if your income is $25,000 to $34,000 for an individual, or $32,000 to $44,000 for married couples filing jointly, according to AARP. Up to 85% of your benefits are taxable if your income is more than $34,000 for an individual or $44,000 for a married couple.
There’s A Cap On Social Security Money You Get Each Month
A person who earns $900,000 per year may not receive more Social Security money each month than a person who makes $200,000 per year. That’s because the Social Security Administration has a cap on how much income can be taxed by the administration. The cap amount has changed over the years and will likely continue to do so.
For 2022, the maximum taxable earnings is $147,000 in 2015, it was $118,500.
If you work more than one job and employers withhold more than the maximum from your paycheck, it’s possible the taxes could exceed the maximum amount. If that’s the case, you can claim a refund from the IRS for the money that exceeded the maximum amount, according to the SSA.
Here’s how the maximum amount of money you could get breaks down monthly in 2022:
- Collecting Social Security at age 62: $2,364
- Collecting Social Security at full retirement age: $3,345
- Collecting Social Security at age 70: $4,194
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More Than Just Income: The Social Security Spousal Benefit And Medicare Coverage
If you are eligible for a Social Security spousal benefit, you are also entitled to premium free part A Medicare at age 65. The catch?
Youre entitled to Medicare only if your spouse is at least 62 years old.
If you are more than 3 years older than your spouse, you may have to buy Medicare Part A until your spouse turns 62. Thats when your premium-free benefit would start. The Part A monthly premium is $422 in 2018.
Other Pensions Might Reduce Your Social Security Benefits
Your benefits will be affected if you have a pension from a job that didnt have Social Security taxes taken out of your paycheck. Common examples include people who worked for a public education system, railroad workers and Federal government employees hired before 1984 who are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System .
Two complicated provisions will affect your claiming strategy: the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset . The WEP reduces your own benefits by a discounted factor based on how many years you worked in jobs that did not withhold Social Security taxes. The GPO reduces your spousal and survivor benefits by two-thirds of the amount of your noncovered pension.
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Maximum Social Security Benefit At Age 62 Summary
Heres the bottom line:
Claiming Social Security at 62 in 2022 mean you will receive less than you would have if you waited until your full retirement age .
In 2022, if you start collecting Social Security at 62, the maximum benefit you can receive is $2,364.
This is compared with a maximum benefit of $3,345 at full retirement age.
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Why It Makes Sense For The Higher Earner To Wait Longer To Collect
David and Linda are married. David’s primary insurance amount at full retirement age is $1,600 Linda’s is $1,450. They both have an FRA of 67.
If they both wait until 68 to collect, which means their benefits will increase by 8%, David’s benefits will be $1,728 , and Linda’s will be $1,566 .
That extra $12 per month means an extra $144 per year, or $2,880 over 20 years.
In addition, the spouse who lives longer will continue to collect the higher payments.
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How Do I Qualify For Social Security
To qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, in most cases:
- You must be 62+ years old, or disabled/unable to work, and
- You must have sufficient credits earned throughout your working life.3
To qualify for Social Security spousal retirement benefits:
- You must be married to a retired worker , and
- You must have a child under age 16 or a disabled child in your care, or
- You are 62+ years old.2
To qualify for Social Security disability benefits if you are under the age of 62:
- You must be 18+ years old and unable to work due to physical or mental disability, and
- Your condition is expected to last at least a year or may result in death.3
You still can qualify for Social Security disability benefits without earning the required 40 credits, depending on the circumstances. Your lifetime earnings and benefits help determine your monthly disability benefit amount.
To qualify for Social Security survivors benefits:
- You must be a widow or widower who is 60+ years old , or
- You must be a widow or widower caring for the deceaseds child who is under the age of 16 or disabled, or
- You must be a surviving divorced spouse , or
- A dependent parent who is 62+ years old, or
- You must be an unmarried child of the deceased and are:Under 18 years old , or
- 18+ years old with a disability that occurred before you turned 22.3
Your Monthly Social Security Benefits Increase The Longer You Wait To Claim
While you can collect Social Security benefits as soon as you turn 62, taking benefits before your full retirement age will spell a permanent reduction in your payments of as much as 25% to 30%, depending on what your full retirement age is.
If you wait until you hit full retirement age to claim Social Security benefits, youll receive 100% of your earned benefits. But you can do even better by waiting to claim your Social Security benefits at age 70 your monthly Social Security benefit will grow by 8% a year until then. Any cost-of-living adjustments will be included, too, so you dont forgo those by waiting. Think of that time as bonus earning years and remember that youd be hard pressed to find those sorts of gains for zero risk during that period anywhere else.
Waiting to claim your Social Security benefits can help your heirs as well. By waiting to take her benefit, a high-earning wife, for example, can ensure that her low-earning husband will receive a much higher survivor benefit in the event she dies before him. That extra income of up to 32% could make a big difference.
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How Much Will You Get From Social Security
As of March 2022, the average Social Security retirement benefit was $1,665 per month far below the maximum. The program is designed to provide a benefit that replaces about 40% of the typical Americans pre-retirement income. Its not intended to be sufficient as a persons sole source of cash in retirement.
The best place to get a personalized estimate of your future benefit is to log in to your my Social Security account and view your most recent statement. Among other information, it will include an estimate of how big your benefit will be at full retirement age, as well as estimates for what you would receive if you claimed Social Security early or late, based on your actual work record.
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Social Security Benefits In 202: 5 Big Changes Retirees Should Plan For
Inflation has been sky-high over the last year, so its a good thing that the Social Security Administration is boosting its cost of living adjustment for benefit checks in 2023.
Its just one of many changes announced by Social Security recently.
Here are some key changes to Social Security happening next year and what you need to know.
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Social Security Spousal Benefits Explained
- Social Security spousal benefits can pay an eligible spouse 50% of the partners benefit if it is higher than his or her own benefit. Claims can begin at age 62 but may be worth more at full retirement age. Read our Social Security review to learn more.
Social security is complicated for individual filers, and being married can make it even more complicated. Thats because Social Security includes benefits for the spouse as well as the individual.
When an individual files for retirement benefits, that persons spouse may be eligible for a benefit based on the worker’s earnings according to the Social Security Administration.
In this Social Security review, we outline the rules for spousal benefits.
Watch For Five Changes In 2023
More than 70 million people depend on one of Social Securitys benefit programs, so annual changes to the program and its payouts are always highly anticipated.
But substantially higher benefit checks have been a rarity in recent years.
With inflation soaring in 2022, the extra money will help seniors and others make ends meet.
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When You Cant Claim The Maximum Benefit
You might be able to put in 35 years in the workforce, and you may be willing to delay your Social Security filing until age 70. Its the earnings component thats harder to control.
If youre not in a very high-paying industry, then earning the equivalent of the yearly wage cap may not be feasible. And all the side-hustling in the world may not boost your income enough for you to reach that cap.
But if youre not eligible for the maximum Social Security benefit, dont stress. Instead, think of the different things you can do to supplement those benefits so you wind up with a comfortable retirement income.
One option, of course, is to consistently fund anIRA or 401 plan during your working years. You might also consider investing in assets that generate ongoing income, such as buying a home that you rent out.
You can also consider working part-time in retirement if you want more money than what Social Security is looking to pay you. And if you dont want to go out and get a boring job, find a hobby you can monetize, like baking or crafting.
The reality is that most seniors on Social Security collect a lot less than $4,194 a month. If you end up being one of them, dont beat yourself up over it. Instead, focus on the things you can do to increase your retirement income and enjoy a more satisfying lifestyle.
The $18,984 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook
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