I’d like to think that when people email me questions, I give them correct answers with good advice. In fact, I’d guess I do that almost all the time. And when I don’t, it’s usually because the person writing to me didn’t present me with all the facts. Here are a couple real-life examples. (I’ve changed the names to protect the anonymity of the readers involved.)
Bob wrote to tell me that his wife, Carol, who is two years older than he is, has been getting her own Social Security benefits since she was 62. Bob just turned 66 and he was now applying for his own retirement. His benefits are significantly higher than what his wife is getting, so Bob thought Carol would be due more money on his account. But when they talked to their local Social Security agent, they were told that because Carol took early retirement, she can’t get any spousal benefits on Bob’s record. They wrote to ask me if this was correct.
I responded by telling them that it was not necessarily true. The fact that she took her own benefits at 62 does NOT preclude Carol from getting extra spousal benefits on Bob’s account. Here is how they would figure out if Carol is due anything extra from her husband’s record. They would take her age 66 benefit rate and subtract that from one-half of Bob’s age 66 rate. If there is any difference, it will be added to Carol’s reduced retirement benefit.
I told them to do the math. And if it looks like Carol is due anything extra on Bob’s account, she should go back to the Social Security people and insist on filing a claim.
About a month later, Bob sent me a follow-up email. He said his math (based on the formula I gave him) indicated Carol was due an extra $400 per month. They went back to their local Social Security office and talked to the same clerk. Even though she still said no benefits were payable, they demanded to file a claim. And sure enough, a couple weeks later Carol got an “award letter” telling her she was due an extra $415 per month in spousal benefits. Bob thanked me profusely and offered to buy me lunch.
During this same time frame, I got an email from Ted. He relayed a very similar story. He has a wife, Alice, who was getting a small Social Security retirement check that she started at age 62. Ted was now applying for his own much higher Social Security benefit. He said the Social Security rep they talked to told them that Alice wasn’t due any extra benefits on Ted’s account. I gave them the same advice I had delivered to Bob and Carol. I told them to go back to their Social Security office and insist on filing a claim. Which they did.
And several weeks later, I heard from Ted again. They had filed a claim for Alice, but she had just received a letter of denial saying she wasn’t due any extra benefits. The letter explained that because Alice was getting a federal civil service retirement pension in addition to her small Social Security check, that federal pension precluded her from getting any extra benefits.
Ted let it be known that he was a little perturbed at me for getting their hopes up about his wife’s potential eligibility for benefits. I pointed out that I gave him bad advice because he gave me bad information — or rather, incomplete information.
Though I did not give Ted the right answer, I did give him the right advice: File a claim for benefits. And that’s the overall theme of this column.
