I am always amazed by the emails I get from older senior citizens trying to help their children deal with Social Security issues. I am talking about parents in their late 80s and beyond who are asking Social Security-related questions on behalf of their 60-something “kids.”
Gosh! I sometimes feel out of place offering advice to my 42-year-old son and 40-year-old daughter, both of whom have spouses and children of their own. I can’t even imagine doing the same when I’m in a nursing home and they are pushing Social Security age! Oh, well. I guess the urge to want to help your offspring lasts as long as you are alive.
So anyway, here are questions from senior citizen parents trying to help their young senior citizen children with Social Security.
Q: Our son is about to turn 60. He is bound and determined to “maximize” his Social Security. He is going to wait until he is 70 before he starts his benefits. This concept is foreign to us. Both my husband and I took our benefits at age 62. We didn’t give this a second thought. But our son is agonizing over this. Can you help us advise our son?
A: I’ve written about this phenomenon before. People of your generation usually didn’t think about trying to maximize their Social Security benefits. They simply filed for retirement benefits at 62. Some waited until their full retirement age (which was 65 back then). And a very few — and I mean very few — waited until age 70 to sign up for Social Security.
But all of that has turned completely around. Today, it is rare for someone to start his or her Social Security at 62. In fact, the majority of seniors are delaying filing until age 70 to get the 32 percent bonus added to their monthly Social Security checks. Why are they doing this? Because they are bombarded with mailers and internet postings telling them that this is the way they will get the most out of their Social Security nest egg.
Are they being advised correctly? Or are they being led, like lemmings, to the Social Security cliff where most of them will die before reaping these so-called maximized benefits?
Q: My son is about to turn 65. He said that he does not plan to sign up for Medicare because he is working and has coverage through his employer. I told him that if he doesn’t take Medicare now, he would pay a big fine later. Please help me make sure my son doesn’t make a mistake.
A: Your son should be OK. With very few exceptions, as long as he is working and getting full health coverage from his employer, he doesn’t need to sign up for Part B Medicare. (That covers doctor’s visits and lab costs and is paid for by monthly premiums.) When he retires and loses his employer’s active health coverage, he can apply for Part B, and he won’t pay any premium penalties. Your son probably should sign up for Part A hospital coverage of Medicare now because it’s free. Although, if he has a Health Saving Account, he may not want to take Part A now. (That is a topic for a whole other column.)
Q: We have a 59-year-old daughter. She has been married for 30 years. But now she is talking about divorce. We really like our son-in-law. And they have three wonderful teenage children. So we are doing what we can to keep their family together. One of our arguments against divorce involves Social Security. We are telling her that if she gets a divorce now, she will lose any rights to spousal and widow’s benefits she would be due from our son-in-law. She wants to see this in writing. Can you help us prove our point?
A: I’m afraid you are going to have to find other reasons to keep your daughter and son-in-law together; your Social Security argument won’t work. And that’s because, assuming she doesn’t remarry, she will be due the same benefits as a divorced wife (and maybe someday, a divorced widow) as she would be due as a married woman.
Q: My son is about to turn 62 years old. He suffers from mental illness. He has worked on and off over the years. But I am his primary means of support. I’d like to help him get disability benefits. How do I do this?
A: At age 62, your son will be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits — assuming he has earned 40 credits of Social Security coverage during his lifetime. If he is capable of doing so, he should apply for those benefits. If he can’t do these things himself, then you have to do it for him.
You would apply for his Social Security benefits and, at the same time, file to be what is called his “representative payee.” That means his monthly benefits, and all correspondence from the Social Security Administration, will come in your name for him.
He, or you on his behalf, should look into Social Security disability benefits as well. He would be eligible for such benefits if he has worked and paid Social Security taxes in five out of the last 10 years. If he has, and if his disability claim is approved, he would get higher monthly benefits. At age 62, his retirement check would be 75 percent of his full benefit rate. But if he gets disability, he would be paid his full retirement age amount, or 100 percent.
If your son has not worked in five out of the last 10 years, then he would not be eligible for any Social Security disability benefits and would only get his reduced retirement check.
If he can’t get Social Security disability benefits, and if his retirement check is less than about $750 per month, he possibly might be due Supplemental Security Income disability, which is like a welfare program. Talk to your local Social Security people about this.
