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Social Security Love: Navigating Spousal Benefits · Money In Motion with Klaas Financial

0:00
And we're back live and the phone lines are open for you right now at
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six oh eight three two one thirteen ten at six oh eight three two one
0:09
thirteen ten. If you have questions for our retirement planning professionals from COSS Financial
0:15
love to hear from you this morning, telephone number six oh eight three two
0:18
one thirteen ten. You can learn more about Class Financial on their fantastic website
0:23
class financial dot com that's k l Aasfinancial dot com and their telephone number six
0:28
oh eight four four two five six three seven. No charge for that initial
0:33
get to know you appointment tech costs Financial. It will be complimentary to you
0:37
again their number six oh eight four four two five six three seven. Without
0:41
any further ado, We welcome in our retirement planning professionals c J Class and
0:45
Malia Quavis CJ. How you doing this week? I am doing great.
0:49
You know. I had a couple of clients say to me, are you
0:51
guys still doing the radio show? Because we're still alive. It's straight yes,
0:56
and uh, it just makes me realize that people actually listen to this.
0:59
So that's I got to say a lot of I almost feel like we
1:03
should just every few months just take a couple of weeks off because you suddenly
1:07
realize, oh my goodness, there's a ton of listeners. Mali. I
1:10
hope you had some time to get some rest and relaxation. How are you
1:12
doing this morning? Sure? I sure did, thank you, and I
1:17
was just thinking, wow, the calendar continued to move. And although our
1:22
show today is not about this, please remember next week your taxes are due.
1:26
And we're not accountants, but we like to remind people that dates is
1:30
showing up next week, So make sure you're in cahoots with your accountant to
1:34
get this completed. I know. One of the things that are universal between
1:38
accountants, and of course what you pre check class financial is planning and the
1:42
importance of planning ahead and being prepared. And as we talk about those,
1:47
those two worlds kind of crossing like an eclipse, really really important stuff to
1:52
keep in mind. This morning, we've got a really important conversation at as
1:55
well, which involves the future of social security that benefits your income and of
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course understanding how these uh, how these different benefits can coordinate with your spouse
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or x spouse. There's some really important nuances and things to understand about that,
2:08
and we're going to get into it with CJ Andmalia and just a moment
2:12
in the meantime. If you have a question, and one of the things
2:14
I also noticed during a couple of weeks off was there's a lot of misunderstanding
2:19
out there. If you ever have questions, this is a prime opportunity to
2:22
get some of that stuff cleared up simply by picking up phone, giving us
2:24
call six oh eight three two one thirteen ten. That's six so eight three
2:29
two one thirteen ten. And don't worry if you've got a question, you
2:30
are not the only person with that same question. Not only we be helping
2:34
yourself out, but you're helping everybody else out by asking that question. You
2:38
can learn more as mentioned about Class Financial on their website. Class financial dot
2:42
com. Also sign up for the weekly market Pulse newsletter. That's closs klaas
2:46
financial dot com and they're telephone number six soh eight four four two five six
2:51
three seven. Now, the really cool feature of the show is the clos
2:53
quiz question. We will be doing one later on in the program. Your
2:57
chance to win a great prize, a twenty five dollar gift card to Target
3:00
provided by our friends at Class Financial. Little tip typically just I think it's
3:06
about every time the question and answer to the class quiz question league come up
3:08
during the program, so it pays a number of ways to pay particularly close
3:13
attention. And before we start talking about social Security and coordinating with your spouse
3:19
or ex spouse and understanding kind of how those benefits all work, let's actually
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take a look back at last couple of weeks, a few weeks ago,
3:25
the last programs Class Quiz Question Week. Get the question and the answer there
3:30
as well. Malia. Yeah, so we had this discussion, like Sean
3:35
said, a couple of weeks ago, and the question of the week at
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that point was true or false. If you're a non spouse beneficiary and you
3:43
inherited an IRA after January first of twenty twenty, this is when things changed.
3:49
You must draw out the entire account within ten years. So again tru
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or false. The correct answer was true. Lewis called in with a correct
3:57
answer. Congratulations to them. But just keep in mind, if you are
4:01
the beneficiary, you probably of any type of inheritance. You probably want to
4:08
sit down with someone who can kind of spell out next steps for you.
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And that's what our show is all about. So listen carefully to today's show
4:15
for another question, and you can listen back to that program as well at
4:17
class financial dot Com. That's Class k l aas Financial dot Com. As
4:23
mentioned, phone lines are open six SOH eight three two one thirteen ten.
4:26
That's six SOH eight three two one thirteen ten. And since you know so
4:30
many people do depend on their future Social Security benefit for income, today we're
4:33
going to be talking about understanding how those benefits coordinate with your spouse or ex
4:39
spouse, which is which is interesting thing to say there, CJ. It
4:43
is. Although I'm still reeling from Sean saying two worlds colliding like an eclipse.
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I was just like, that is brilliant, you know terminology there,
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Sean. I don't know if you got onto that, but I'm amazed anyway,
4:57
Yeah, with the reason eclipse. Very impressed. Okay, Yes,
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we're talking about social Security today, and this is a pretty hot topic,
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especially as it relates to X spouses, so current spouses or ex spouses or
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widows or widowers. So obviously we all are aware that we're entitled to our
5:15
own Social Security benefit, but you need to be aware that if you had
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previously been married or are currently married, you may be also entitled to a
5:26
spouse or ex spouse benefit. To under understand your specific situation, we would
5:31
suggest that you reach out directly to Social Security to get your specific numbers.
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And if you don't have a spouse, then you can simply go to SSA
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dot gov and calculate your own Social Security benefit at your FRA, your full
5:45
retirement age which is based on your birth year, or you could look at
5:48
what your reduced benefit would be if you chose to collect sooner. But if
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you have a current spouse or x spouse, there are several things to be
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aware of with regards to collecting your Social Security benefit based on your spouse's record.
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A Social Security spousal benefits and I'm using air quotes here is available to
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the following. It's available to current spouses, X spouses and widowed spouses with
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some eligibility rules. So that's what we're going to talk about here. First
6:20
category is current spouse rules. If you have been married for at least one
6:26
year, your benefit may be as much as one half of your spouses or
6:32
workers PIA primary insurance amount. By the way, the PIA is just a
6:38
dollar amount of your spouse's full retirement age benefit. So again, if you've
6:44
been married for at least one year, your benefit may be as much as
6:46
one half of your spouse's PIA amount, and this is depending upon the spouse's
6:53
age at retirement. However, if the spouse begins receiving benefits before normal or
6:59
full retirement age, the spouse will receive a reduced benefit. Also, you
7:04
are not eligible to receive a spousal benefit until your spouse files for their own
7:12
benefit first. So let me give you an example. Say your married couple
7:16
have been married for at least a year, and your spouse's full retirement age
7:21
is sixty seven and their PIA their primary insurance amount is three thousand dollars a
7:28
month, and you, as the spouse, are sixty. So your spouse
7:33
turns sixty seven, they pull their PIA of three thousand dollars a month,
7:38
which is their full retirement age benefit, at which point you are and I
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said sixty, let's say you're sixty two. That's a bad example. So
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sixty seven, your spouse is sixty two, so you're eligible, but your
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benefit when you look at your own benefit is only you know, eight hundred
7:56
bucks a month. Because maybe you didn't have a high paying job or didn't
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work very long into a Social Security qualifying job. Well, you are entitled
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to half of your spouse's PIA except for your drawing early so you be entitled
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to fifteen hundred dollars a month minus you know, some reduction for the fact
8:16
that you're drawing before your full retirement age. Now there's a quick example.
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But I know many of your heads are spinning right now listening, going wait,
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wait, wait, what just happened there? Feel free to talk to
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your financial advisor, your accountant to get more information about this. But we
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sit down and run these calculations all day, every day with people just so
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that they understand how this works. And again, you must be aged sixty
8:39
two sixty two to file or receive spousal benefits, so you have to be
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eligible yourself to be able to even draw spousal benefits. Talking this morning with
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our retirement planning professionals C. J. Claus and Malia Quavis. They come
8:52
to us from Class Financial online, Class Financial dot com. That's Class klaas
8:58
Financial dot com and they're telephone number six eight four four two five six three
9:01
seven. If you've got a question, love to have you join us this
9:03
morning? Telephon number to get on the air six So eight three two one
9:07
thirteen ten. That's three two one thirteen ten. So CJ. You touched
9:11
on current spouse. What about X spouse rules? What do we need to
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know there? Yeah, this is where it gets even more complicated. But
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pay close attention here because there's a lot of people listening who have expouses.
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So here's some of the rules on X spouses and Social Security. Both xpouses
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are eligible for spousal benefits and need to have been married for over ten years
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and have not remarried prior to age sixty. Let me just read that over
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again. Both ex spouses are eligible for spousal benefits. I'm emphasizing eligible because
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just because you're eligible doesn't mean you're going to get any benefit from it,
9:50
and you need to have been married for over ten years and have not remarried
9:56
prior to age sixty. You can receive a spousal benefit based on an X
10:01
spouse's record, even if your ex spouse has not filed for his or her
10:07
own benefits, but your ex must be age sixty two or older, so
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this is critical ten years. You can't have remarried prior to age sixty.
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You don't have to worry about whether they're drawing or not, because again,
10:22
you're not married to them. You don't know if they're drawing Social Security,
10:26
but they must be at least sixty two or older. You need to be
10:31
divorced for at least two years if you wish to claim benefits before your ex
10:37
spouse does. And finally, this is kind of an interesting note. Taking
10:43
a spousal benefit does not reduce or change the amount your current spouse, x
10:50
spouse or your ex spouse's new spouse may receive in benefits. So often we'll
10:56
hear this. Here's what I'll hear from people. They'll say, oh,
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this is me. I you know, I was married for fifteen years,
11:01
went through a kind of a nasty divorce. My ex spouse is sixty four
11:05
living in Arizona, and I'm here in Wisconsin, and so I'm gonna draw
11:11
and please just tell me this is somehow gonna screw him or her. Act
11:15
right, it like it's going to reduce theirs, or it's going to do
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this or and it's like no, no, no, no, no,
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you're drawing off their record. But they're not they don't need to be involved,
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nor is it impacting them or their life, or the opposite is true.
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They go, I'm not going to do that because I don't want to
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hurt them, right, So it's one or the other. It's like a
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vendetta, or they don't want to, you know, impact the expouse in
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their current marriage. Same thing there, it's not going to it's not going
11:41
to impact them. But I cannot suggest enough if you were married, previously
11:46
married for over ten years and you do not plan on getting remarried before your
11:50
age sixty, like, really really really slow down and take a look at
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this, because this is one of the only ways that you can draw a
11:58
benefit without impacting your own benefit. Because notice, a spousal benefit when you
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are an ex spouse is not reducing your current benefit. This is not the
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same when you are married drawing a spousal benefit. We will get into that
12:15
more later on, but again complex topics. Just really work with your financial
12:20
advisor on the best strategy. This stuff is absolutely fascinating. As we talked
12:24
this morning with CJ. Closs and Malia Quavis, there is a lot to
12:28
understand, and that's one of the importance of if you ever have questions about
12:31
whether it's a topic at hand or anything. We're revolving around retirement and retirement
12:35
planning. We've got a retirement planning professionals available to you right now from COSS
12:39
Financial. All I gotta do is pick up phone, give a call six
12:41
oh eight three two one thirteen ten. That's six oh eight three two one
12:46
thirteen ten. Gets you on the air with Malia and CJ. Don't forget
12:48
about the telephone over for COSS Financials office right here in Madison six oh eight
12:52
four four two five six three seven. No charge for that initial gets to
12:56
know you appointment tech Loss Financial. It will be complimentary to you and the
13:00
number six oh eight four four two five six three seven. The website coss
13:03
Financial dot com. That's k l aas Financial dot com. We'llnchin you our
13:07
conversation with Cjnmalia and take your call next as Money in Motion with Loss Financial
13:11
continues right here on thirteen ten. Wiv A phone lines are open for you
13:18
right now six oh eight three two one thirteen ten. That's six oh eight
13:20
three two one thirteen ten. Gets you on the air with CJ. Closs
13:24
and Malia Quavis. They are our retirement planning professionals from Class Financial. Their
13:28
website coss Financial dot com. That's k l aa S Financial dot com.
13:33
You can learn more about Class Financial on their website. Also get to know
13:35
the team, learn about their separate divisions. Also sign up for the weekly
13:39
Market Pulse newsletter. Again the website coss Financial dot com. They're telephone number
13:43
six oh eight four four two five six three seven. No charge for that
13:46
initial get to know you appointment at Loss Financial. It will be complimentary to
13:50
you. Again their number six oh eight four four two five six three seven.
13:54
The phone lines are open also at three two one thirteen ten. That's
13:58
six oh eight three two one thirteen ten. And we're talking about the eclipse
14:01
earlier. Just a quick quick note. I am one of those people that
14:03
avoids tolls at all costs. So I jump off I ninety and travel through
14:09
Love's Park. And I was on my way down on Monday to go see
14:13
the eclipse in southern Illinois, and I drive by the beautiful Class Financial building
14:16
you have, and you waved at us. I do like you guys got
14:20
that great pizza joint right next door. Yeah, why, we're all a
14:24
little thick. If you drove by at the right time. I was out
14:28
there with glasses look at it, I SAIDs something. But that's one of
14:35
the cool things too, is we as we kind of reached that state line
14:37
area. Folks, if you're in obviously Dane County, Fitchburg, Rock County
14:41
state line area, northern Illinois, listen to the podcast anywhere across the country.
14:45
When you go to class financial dot com. As matter of fact,
14:46
you can see all the people that that coss Financial where they are working with
14:50
them. They're across the country. It's really really cool, great great opportunity
14:54
with Class Financial and Malia. We're talking this week about social security and of
14:58
course how much do you get in social Security benefit if you're collecting off your
15:03
spouse's record. What do we need to know there? Yeah, so a
15:05
little bit of repeat information, you know, because ears perk up when we
15:11
start talking about, HM, what amount would I be able to collect when
15:15
I go into retirement from my Social Security? And many people, especially if
15:20
we want to talk about maybe people who have chosen to stay home to help
15:24
raise the family, male or female over the years, many of them don't
15:28
understand that they actually would have a benefit perhaps that they can collect as a
15:35
spouse. I've gotten that question many times over the years that they thought,
15:39
well, because I didn't work, I just stayed home, I probably don't
15:41
have any type of benefit coming to me. So that's where CJ mentioned this
15:46
a little earlier. As a spouse, you can claim a social Security benefit
15:52
based on either your own ernie's record, or you can collect perhaps a spousal
15:56
benefit, and that spousal benefit will provide you fifty percent of the amount of
16:03
your spouse's Social Security benefit as calculated at their full retirement. H that how
16:08
farage we talk about. So this is how it works. You're automatically entitled
16:14
to either a benefit based on your own earnings again an average of thirty five
16:18
years is how social Security works that out, or a spousal benefit based on
16:23
your spouses or, as CJ mentioned, your ex spouse's earnings. And this
16:27
is what you need to know. Social Security will calculate and pay the higher
16:32
amount. Now, you don't get both. That's the other thing to understand.
16:34
You're not going to get both, but they're going to calculate and pay
16:37
the higher amount. And we would suggest you know it is worth the time
16:41
to sit down with a social security specialist, make an appointment over the phone
16:48
and understand you know your situation, because everybody's got you know, maybe it
16:52
was a marriage for X amount of years, Maybe there was a divorce,
16:57
Maybe there's more than one ax, maybe you're a widow. There's so many
17:03
different factors that could play into the calculations. It really is important to sit
17:07
down with a specialist. So many people ask us how an early retirement may
17:11
affect these benefits, and that's really important to understand as well. If you
17:17
collect a spousal benefit and you begin collecting this benefit before you reach your full
17:22
retirement age, you have to understand that your benefit will be permanently reduced.
17:29
So what I'm saying is if your spouse takes their Social Security early and you
17:33
take a spousal benefit early, you're effectively reducing your benefits that's going to be
17:37
paid out over your lifetime, and that will have a permanent effect on the
17:42
survivor benefit for which either of you may be eligible. So things to know,
17:48
and this goes with a regular Social Security benefit as well. Things to
17:52
know if you collect any type of benefit before your full retirement age, which
17:56
for most people listening is probably in the sixty seven age range, and you
18:00
continue to work and receive earned income, you may owe some of your Social
18:06
Security benefits back. You may owe some of them back to Social Security.
18:10
This is what people don't like to hear. It's like, Okay, so
18:12
I'm getting a benefit and I may have to pay some back if I work
18:17
and I earn too much. This is correct, but what needs to be
18:21
understood is once you do reach that magic age your FRA, you can collect
18:25
Social Security earn any amount from working without being subject to any reduction in benefits
18:30
or penalty. So just be clear on the amounts you can earn during that
18:37
year if you're under your full retirement age. If you're over your full retirement
18:42
age, you can earn as much as you want and will not affect your
18:45
penalty. You're a benefit. So just to give you an idea back to
18:51
spousal benefits and how much those average out so right now. In twenty twenty
18:56
four, Social Security reports that the average spousal benefit for a sixty two year
19:02
old out there again, average is around six hundred and twelve dollars for a
19:06
sixty six year old, around eight thirty six, and around nine sixteen for
19:11
a sixty seven year old, so obviously they can be more or less.
19:14
Those are averages, but keep in mind, you know, we go back
19:18
to this many times when we're talking about all the different income sources you may
19:23
have, and so when you go into retirement, so keep in mind social
19:27
Security benefits and spousal benefits are really mainly meant to supplement your retirement income in
19:37
the future. So that's why you know, listening to shows like ours and
19:41
others when we're talking about building up your retirement savings is so important because trying
19:45
to live on just a Social Security benefit is going to be pretty tough.
19:51
And then again we'd say before applying for your spousal benefits, understand how your
19:56
spouse's benefit may be affected if you take your sol social Security benefits early,
20:00
and what happens upon the death of a spouse will also play into future retirement
20:06
income. So just take your time and really understand what your choices are going
20:10
to be a lot of great points. As always Malia Quavis and CJ.
20:12
Closs, our retirement planning professionals from Class Financial learn more online Class financial dot
20:17
Com. That's k l a as Financial dot Com. There's alf one number
20:21
six oh eight four four two five, six three seven. No charge for
20:23
that. Indit you'll get to know you appointment ch costs financial. It will
20:26
be complementary to you again their number six oh eight four four two five six
20:30
three seven and CJ. I know some folks will talk about about filing on
20:34
their spouse's record and then claim their benefit later. Is that still an option
20:41
question? And the short answer is no, it isn't. But we do
20:47
get questions about this all the time. So I was kind of referencing this
20:51
before. If you're married, if you're married and planning on, hey,
20:56
I'll draw off of my spouses record while I leave my own alone to a
21:02
crew. Assuming you're not. You didn't do that years and years ago.
21:06
That is no longer allowed. So this used to be known as the file
21:10
and suspend option. By the way, for those who have heard of this
21:12
idea, because some of you are probably listening going, no, that's not
21:15
true. My grandparents did that. That might be right. Your grandparents may
21:18
have done this, or your parents may have done this, but it is
21:22
no longer an option. You cannot file and suspend your own record while then
21:26
drawing off of drawing a spousal benefit while your own a cruise. However,
21:33
listen closely to what we were saying before as it relates to X spouses records,
21:40
because that is not the case when it comes to an ex spouses record.
21:44
As long as you're following those rules, meaning you can't have remarried,
21:48
you had to be married to that person for over ten years, they have
21:51
to the original X spouse has to be at least sixty two. If all
21:56
those things apply to you, you could draw off of their record as an
22:02
ex spouse benefit while leaving your own alone to continue to accrue. We often
22:08
suggest this to our clients, but that is not the case when you are
22:11
currently married. So I hope, I hope we have sufficiently confused you all.
22:17
I mean, it makes sense in my brain, but I don't know
22:18
if as I communicated, it makes sense to you all. Obviously, call
22:22
into your advisor calling to us if you have any core also not a good
22:25
reason to consider divorce either, as we tell just keep the one wife.
22:30
It's cheaper. Yes, yes, talking this morning with our retirement plenty professionals
22:36
from Class Financials J Class and Malia Klavis learn more online Class financial dot com.
22:41
That's Klaasfinancial dot Com. Dolphin number six oh eight four four two five
22:45
six three seven. No charge that initial get to know your appoyment at Class
22:48
Financial. It will be complimentary to you again the number six oh eight four
22:52
four two five six three seven. More fun in information next as money in
22:56
Motion with Class Financial continues right here on thirteen ten, Wuiba talking with our
23:03
retirement planning professional CJ. Closs and Malia Equavis of Class Financial the website class
23:07
financial dot Com. That's Kate l aasfinancial dot Com. There tell the one
23:11
number six eight four four to two five six three seven. No charge that
23:15
initiatives know your appointment at Class Financial. It will be complimentary to you again.
23:18
They're number six so eight four four two five six three seven. So
23:22
CJ, do do spousal benefits increase after full retirement? H? Or if
23:27
I wait until I'm seventy to claim, will my spouse also get a bigger
23:32
benefit? Good question. So for people who have listened to our show previously,
23:37
you know that you can draw Social Security benefits off your own records sometime
23:41
between age sixty two and seventy. And then there's this middle area known as
23:45
your full retirement age amount, and that amount is known as your PIA primary
23:51
insurance amount. Well, the question becomes, all right, well, how
23:53
does this work when I'm a spouse or an ex spouse to do those benefits
24:00
a crew as well? And the answer is no, they don't. So
24:04
if you if you think, let's think of current spouse, If you are
24:07
a current spouse and you look at your own record which is less than half
24:14
of your currents your current working spouse's amount, then you will be entitled to
24:18
the higher of those two, as Malia just mentioned. And so you have
24:22
to elect and then you get the higher of the two. If you say,
24:25
well, I'm sixty six, but I'm gonna wait for those higher spousal
24:30
benefits to accrue, doesn't work. Now. Conversely, if you're a spouse
24:34
who your own record is already more than half of your spouse's record, well
24:41
then yes, leave yours alone and it can continue to accrue up to age
24:45
seventy known as delayed retirement credits. But just remember that it's this idea of
24:51
like having my spousal benefit a crew beyond my full retirement age, it doesn't
24:56
happen. So if you're going to draw off of your spouses benefit, which
25:03
is half of their benefit, then you should be drawing by the time you
25:07
reach full retirement age. Now, of course, next question is what is
25:10
full retirement age. So if you full retirement age right now in this year
25:15
is sixty six, but it's in the middle of transitioning between sixty six to
25:18
sixty seven. And if you're born nineteen sixty or later like me, then
25:23
your full retirement age is sixty seven. So it depends on the year in
25:26
which you were born, by the way, But there you go. There's
25:30
some information now. Also, by the way, all of these things don't
25:33
impact what are called family maximum benefits, so there's only so much that can
25:38
come off of one worker's record, by the way, so there are family
25:42
maximums here that you have to be cautious of in case you have minor children
25:47
who are drawing off of or disabled children. So a lot of things to
25:49
be aware of. We're not going to go too deep down that rabbit hole.
25:52
But please remember what I said before. Rules are different for surviving benefits,
26:00
so not only you know kind of ex spouses rules are different. But
26:03
now let's talk about survivor benefits. A widow or widower whose spouse waited until
26:11
seventy to file for Social Security is entitled to the full amount the deceased was
26:18
getting, including the delayed retirement credits. So as long as the surviving spouse
26:23
has reached full or that is, as long as a retirement the spouse has
26:27
reached full retirement age. So a lot, a lot, a lot to
26:32
know here just cannot encourage all of you enough. If you have been married,
26:37
you know, at least once before for ten years, maybe a couple
26:40
times before for over ten years, really slow down, talk to a financial
26:44
advisor. Listen, even if even if you're considering getting remarried, slow down
26:51
a little bit and say, hey, before we before we tie the knot
26:53
if I'm in my sixties or my fifties, or I shouldn't say sixties because
26:59
you're in your six You're fine. If I'm in my fifties, I should
27:02
slow down because if I suddenly get remarried, I'm losing access to a spousal
27:07
benefit or or furthermore, if I'm a widow or widower and I'm going to
27:14
get remarried, you actually same concept there. Widows benefits begin at sixty,
27:18
which Malia is going to be talking about here in a moment, and so
27:22
you just want to slow down and talk to an advisor before you make these
27:25
big decisions. Really important to have that plan. And as we talk about
27:29
some of these important decisions, and you know, sometimes they can be uncomfortable
27:33
things we don't even want to think about. If you mentioned the widow or
27:34
widowers and let's talk then about kind of that. It's a reality. What
27:38
do they say, death and taxes, it's going to happen. The question
27:41
then becomes when it comes to a couple of Social Security benefit what happens then
27:45
when someone passes malaia? Yeah, so I mean, first of all,
27:49
it's a tough time when you're going through that and you've just lost your spouse.
27:53
So I would say as soon as you are able to first call Social
27:59
Secure and let them know that your spouse has passed away, so that effectively
28:03
they will stop the benefit that's coming into the home for that person. They
28:10
do need to be notified. If you didn't notify them, they'll find out
28:14
eventually and they'll retract it. So just so you're aware of that. But
28:18
if you are the one who's left behind, you should know that you will
28:22
continue to receive your benefit or your spouses, and it will be the higher
28:29
of the two, but it will not be both. And also, to
28:33
note somewhat laughable, but a surviving spouse living in the same household is eligible
28:38
to receive a one time lump some payment from Social Security of two hundred and
28:44
fifty five dollars upon the death of the spouse is This was put into place
28:49
many many decades ago and has not changed. But after the second person that
28:53
passes. This is important for adult children to understand. Social Security does not
28:59
pay out a second benefit to the estate, so it's only the first first
29:03
person that has passed. And as CJ mentioned, you can collect a survivor's
29:08
benefit as early as age sixty. Unfortunately, we do see a lot of
29:12
people you know who lose spouse as much much before age sixty, and that's
29:17
a really tough situation. You really do need to sit down and understand the
29:22
implications of Yes, at sixty you could start collecting the survivor's benefit, but
29:30
you really have to look at the big picture because you're talking about potentially starting
29:33
an income flow that could be greatly reduced for the next thirty years of your
29:38
life. So this is a really serious decision. Widows and widowers can restrict
29:44
their application to file for either their own benefit and that's what you want to
29:48
talk about, or the widow widower benefit, and then later switch to the
29:52
other benefits. So you might do this if your own benefit amount at age
29:56
seventy would be larger than your widow benefit, and you may be able to
30:00
claim the widow benefit for several years, then at age seventy switch to your
30:04
own benefit. So just be very very careful about making those last you know,
30:11
those quick decisions, as CJ said, before you enter a second marriage,
30:15
third marriage, or before you you just say, okay, i've lost
30:19
my spouse, I'm just going to start turning on Social Security for that benefit,
30:23
because this is going to affect literally the rest of your life. The
30:26
very very important conversation this week. If you missed any part of the show,
30:30
do not forget. You can always listen back at colssfinancial dot com.
30:33
You can also subscribe to the podcast online at closs financial dot com. That's
30:38
k l a As Financial dot com. Telephon number six O eight four four
30:42
two five six three seven. No charge for that initial get to know you
30:45
appointment at Class Financial. It will be complimentary to you again. They're number
30:48
six o eight four four two five six three seven. Go on to hold
30:52
on to that telephone number. Now it's time for the Class Quiz question of
30:55
the week. It works like this and just a moment, I'll ask you
30:56
the CLSs Quiz question the week. Will then have thirty minutes from the interday's
31:00
program to call the Class Financial Office right here in Madison at six oh eight
31:03
four four two five six three seven. If you are the first court correct
31:07
answer to win this week's prize, which is a twenty five dollars gift card
31:11
to Target or Tarja. If you prefer this week's class quiz question the week
31:15
is this, what is the earliest age that you can file for or receive
31:19
spousal benefits from Social Security? Is it sixty two? Age sixty two or
31:25
age seventy? Telephone number six oh eight four four two five, six three
31:29
seven. First coart correct answer win the twenty five dollars gift cards Target and
31:32
don't forget that's Class Financials Office right here in Madison six oh eight four four
31:36
two five six three seven. See j Elia miss talking with you guys.
31:40
Great to have you back. You enjoy this beautiful day. Thanks Ton.
31:42
It's not a horse show, it's say horse fair. We're gonna take you
31:45
there next year. On thirteen ten, wiv I