Q & A
How Does Social Security Consider Multiple Impairments When Making Disability Decisions?
Answer: Many applicants for Social Security disability benefits have several different medical issues that are preventing them from working. The Social Security Administration (SSA) must consider the combined effects of all your impairments, both severe and non-severe, in deciding whether you…
I’m a federal employee. If I receive a medical disability, do I pay the full Federal Employees Health Benefits premiums plus 2 percent?
Answer: Assuming that you are currently enrolled in the FEHB program, you would pay the same premiums in retirement that you are now paying as an employee. Note: If you are a Postal Service retiree, you’d lose the subsidy gained through…
What is Medicare Extra Help?
Answer: Part of Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage), Extra Help helps people with limited income and resources pay for part of their prescription drug coverage premiums, annual deductibles, and prescription co-payments. Social Security administers the Extra Help program, even though…
How Does Social Security’s Lump Sum Option Work?
Answer: If you wait until after your full retirement age to claim your Social Security retirement benefits, there is a little-known rule that could entitle you to a large chunk of cash all at once. This provision enables retirees who meet this requirement…
My wife passed away 18 years ago and had worked 15 to 20 years. Can I collect survivor benefits? I am 63 and plan on working until 66. Her earnings were quite high during her career, so how does that affect my benefits?
Answer: Survivor benefits are available starting at age 60. Let me ignore for the moment the fact that you’re still working and assume that your age-70 retirement benefit exceeds your survivor benefit. If you start taking your survivor benefit immediately, it…
My husband will be 62 next February. I am 60 and have been the higher wage earner for many years. He is a farmer and I’m a nurse. With what I’ve been reading, it sounds like, if necessary, it would be best for my husband to apply for his retirement benefits early, and then check when I turn 66 to see if the spousal benefits would be greater than his reduced retirement benefits. Does that sound right? (I provide health benefits through my employer.)
Answer: No, this doesn’t sound right. What may be the best option is for you to take your retirement benefit at age 64, thus permitting your husband to apply, at his full retirement age, just for his spousal benefit based on your…
My husband of 25 years started drawing his reduced Social Security benefits 10 years ago at the age of 62. Is there a spousal benefit for which I am eligible? I am 65, and we are thinking about my filing for spousal benefits at 66 and deferring my own Social Security until 70. Since he is on reduced benefits for taking it early, would my spousal benefit be based on his current benefit amount or what he would have received if he had waited until 65?
Answer: If you wait until 66 to file, you’ll be, as you correctly understand, able to apply just for your own spousal benefit while letting your own retirement benefit grow by 32 percent through age 70. In this case, your spousal…
Is it possible to benefit from a previous spouse’s Social Security if I married and divorced again?
Answer: Provided you’re not now married yet again and that you were married to both former spouses for 10 or more years, you can take the larger of the two spousal benefits (provided you are eligible for both). To collect a…
I receive my Social Security retirement on the fourth Wednesday of each month. The fourth Wednesday of December happens to be Christmas Day. When will I receive my benefit this month?
Answer: Your benefit will be received on Dec. 24. If a regularly scheduled Social Security check is due on a weekend or holiday, you will receive it on the preceding business day. You can see the “Schedule of Social Security Benefit…
I am a FERS employee and may have to postpone my retirement without suffering the age penalty. I am over 59 with 28 years of service. If I postpone my retirement until age 60 and do not carry the optional insurance that I will have to pay for plus 2 percent, would I still be eligible to restart my Blue Cross/Blue Shield coverage once my retirement begins. It will be almost six months that I will not have coverage. I have been enrolled in an insurance plan throughout my entire career. Also, if I am given separation papers involuntarily because of a transfer of function, could I resign and take an immediate retirement before 60 without penalty and also be eligible for the special retirement supplement?
Answer: If you retire under the MRA+10 provision and postpone the receipt of your annuity to reduce or eliminate the age penalty, you can re-enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program when your annuity begins. That’s true whether of not…