Today’s column addresses questions about when to apply to make sure you’ll receive all of the delayed retirement credits (DRCs) you earned by delaying until 70, eligibility for child disability benefits on a second parent’s record and potential options to increase benefit amounts. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which markets Maximize My Social Security and MaxiFi Planner.
See more Ask Larry answers here.
Have Social Security questions of your own you’d like answered? Ask Larry about Social Security here.
When Should My Husband Start Retirement Benefits To Ensure Last Year’s 8% Increase?
HI Larry, My husband turns 70 in a few months. He has been collecting his spousal benefit while his retirement benefit increases 8% each year until 70.
When does the 8% increase amount reflect on his retirement benefit each year?
When should he apply in order to be sure that he receives the last year’s 8% increase? A few months before his birthday or after? With Social Security offices closed for covid, and website doesn’t seem to have option to file for his retirement benefit if he’s already receiving a benefit, and there seem to be long wait times to talk to someone on the phone.
What should we do? Thanks, Nickie
Hi Nickie, Your husband would be credited with his maximum amount of delayed retirement credits (DRCs) as long as he claims his Social Security retirement benefits effective in the month he turns 70.
Unless your husband was born on the first day of the month, this would be the month his 70th birthday occurs in. If your husband was born on the first day of the month, Social Security would count him as turning 70 in the month prior to his birthday. For example, a person born September 1 1951 would be considered by Social Security law to have turned 70 in July 2021, and such a person would want to claim their Social Security retirement benefits no later than effective July 2021.
Social Security allows people to apply for benefits up to four months prior to the month when they want to start their benefits. So if your husband turns 70 in September 2021 for example, he could apply as early as May 2021.
He wouldn’t need to apply that soon, though. In fact, a person reaching 70 in September 2021 could apply as late as March 31 2022 and still be able to claim their benefits effective in September 2021 (i.e. six months retroactively).
The wording on Social Security’s website indicates that a person can apply for benefits online if they aren’t already receiving benefits on their own record. So I don’t know if the fact that your husband is collecting spousal benefits based on your record would prevent him from filing online at ssa.gov.
f he isn’t able to file online and for as long as Social Security offices are closed to the public, your husband’s only other option would be to call Social Security at 800-772-1213 and wait on hold for as long as it takes to speak to an employee. Best, Larry
Can My Disabled Child Switch To Drawing On My Record When I Retire?
Hi Larry, My son became disabled at 19 and filed for benefits on my husband’s Social Security, as he was also disabled. My son now and gets just a little over $800 a month between his SSDI and SSI. I will soon be retiring and I was wondering if my son could switch over to receive a larger benefit. Is that a possibility? Thanks, Alice
Hi Alice, Yes, if your son has been continuously disabled since before he turned 22, then he should qualify for childhood disability benefits (CDBs), also known as disabled adult child’s (DAC) benefits, on your account when you start drawing your benefits.
When a child or DAC is eligible for benefits on more than one parent’s account, they can be paid on whichever account results in the highest CDB. That’s normally on the parent’s record with the highest primary insurance amount (PIA), which is equal to their full retirement age rate.
Unreduced CDBs are paid at a rate of 50% of a living parent’s PIA, or 75% of a deceased parent’s PIA. So if your PIA is higher than your husband’s PIA, then it sounds like your son should be able to collect higher CDBs on your record when you apply for your retirement benefits. His benefit rate would then be equal to 50% of your PIA provided that he is the only person entitled to auxiliary benefits on your account.
By the way, if your son receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in addition to his CDBs, those benefits would be offset dollar for dollar by any increase in his CDB rate. That could cause his SSI benefits to stop altogether depending on the amount of his CDBs.
You may want to consider using my company’s software — Maximize My Social Security or MaxiFi Planner — to explore and understand the options available to you and your family so you can find your best strategy for maximizing lifetime household benefits. Social Security calculators provided by other companies or non-profits may provide proper suggestions if they were built with extreme care. Best, Larry
Is There Any Way For Me To Get A Larger Social Security Check?
Hi Larry, My husband is 71 and collects $2,000 dollars a month as his Social Security retirement benefit. I am 72 and get $915 dollars a month for mine. Is there any way I can get a larger benefit amount? Thanks, Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, You don’t mention if you’re drawing your own Social Security retirement benefits, or spousal benefits, or a combination of the two. If you’re drawing just your own retirement benefits, then you might be able to qualify for additional spousal benefits.
However, you could only qualify for additional spousal benefits if your husband’s primary insurance amount (PIA) is more than twice as much as your own PIA. A person’s PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA).
I don’t know how your and your husband’s PIAs might compare because you don’t state when you each started drawing your benefits. So I have no way of knowing if you may be eligible for spousal benefits. You’ll probably just need to check that out by contacting Social Security.
If you aren’t eligible for spousal benefits then the only other way to potentially increase your benefit rate would be by working and paying more Social Security taxes.
Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person’s highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings, so additional years of earnings can increase a person’s benefit rate if they’re higher than one or more of the 35 years currently being used to calculate the person’s benefit rate. Best, Larry