Читать книгу Social Security For Dummies - Peterson Jonathan, Jonathan Peterson - Страница 29

Retirees may qualify for benefits starting at age 62. Technically, you become eligible on the first full month after your 62nd birthday. Say you turn 62 on July 19. That means you become eligible for benefits on August 1. The August payment arrives in September, however, because Social Security pays with a one-month delay.

You don’t have to take your benefit when you turn 62. The longer you wait, the higher your monthly payment will be, until you reach 70. At that point, there’s no payoff in further delay.

If you qualify for retirement benefits, Social Security may also provide benefits to other family members under certain conditions without reducing the benefits that go to you. Eligible dependents may include

 A spouse age 62 or older: When you begin collecting retirement benefits, a spouse who has reached 62 may also qualify for a benefit.

 A spouse of any age who cares for your dependent child: Spouses may get benefits based on your work record if they’re caring for a child who is dependent on you and younger than 16 or disabled.The SSA tends to follow state guidelines in terms of recognizing common-law marriages, although the rules leave some wiggle room for interpretation. In addition, Social Security now recognizes same-sex marriage in all states and some nonmarital relationships for the purposes of determining entitlement to Social Security and Medicare benefits as well as eligibility and payment amount for Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

 Children: In certain cases, your children can get benefits if you’re collecting retirement or disability benefits. To qualify, children must fall into one of the following categories:Younger than 18 and unmarriedFull-time students up to age 19 who haven’t yet completed high school and are unmarriedAge 18 or older and severely disabled with a disability that began before age 22The SSA’s definitions of parent and child are generally inclusive but sometimes a cause of dispute. It recognizes that you may have an adopted child or a stepchild. (See Chapter 10 for some of the technicalities.)

 Grandchildren: If the grandchild depends on you financially and the grandchild’s parents provide no support (for example, because of death or disability of both parents), the grandchild may qualify for Social Security benefits on your work record.

 A former spouse: Your ex may get benefits if the following apply:You were married for at least ten years.You have been divorced for at least two years, and your ex is 62 or older and has not claimed benefits for him- or herself.Your ex is 62 or older, not remarried, and not eligible for a bigger benefit on anyone else’s work record. (If a former spouse remarries before turning 60 but that marriage ends, the former spouse may again qualify for benefits on the record of the original partner.)

 Note: If your former spouse collects Social Security benefits based on your work record, this doesn’t reduce the amount of benefits that go to you or your current spouse. The same is true even if you have more than one ex-spouse who qualifies under the rules.