The new budget reduced benefits for seniors that were previously available. Specifically, the extra money that could come from claiming spousal benefits under the "file and suspend" strategy is gone. Previously, one spouse could file for social security and then suspend his or her receipt of payments so his benefits could increase at about 8%/year until he/she started taking them at age 70. The spouse could, however, receive spousal benefit from the time of filing. Except in a few case, this great benefit has been eliminated. (Also gone is the ability to recoup all of the foregone income in an emergency.)
There are some example of how this works in this article from the Financial Engines blog: What Married Couples Need to Know about the Latest Changes to Social Security.
No comments:
Post a Comment