Q & A
How Divorce Affects Your Social Security Benefits
Are you receiving Social Security Benefits and getting a divorce? You may be able to claim benefits based on your former spouse’s work record. If you had been married to someone for ten (10) years or more and then divorced, you…
My sister and I are both in our 60s. A financial adviser told her that she should stop funding her pretax health savings account because Social Security benefits are based on your taxable income. Is that true? If it is, then should I stop putting 10 percent of my income into my 401(k)? Will that pretax amount affect my ultimate Social Security benefit?
Answer: First, don’t stop funding your 401(k). You pay FICA taxes on deferred income that is contributed to these workplace accounts (even though income taxes are deferred). So that income is counting toward the ultimate calculation of your monthly Social Security benefit. As…
I will be a FERS retiree with more than 30 years and my spouse will also be eligible for a deferred FERS retirement but will probably wait seven years until he’s 62. He left federal employment more than 10 years ago, and I have always carried him on my Federal Employees Health Benefits family plan. I understand he will be covered by my FEHB family plan after I retire as long as I’m living. If I don’t select a survivor annuity for him, will he be eligible to get his own FEHB plan if I die before him?
Answer: If you don’t elect a survivor annuity for him and you die before he is receiving his deferred annuity, his FEHB coverage would end. Source: http://blogs.federaltimes.com, October 17, 2013
My husband passed away two years ago and, because I retired with a California Public Employees’ Retirement System pension, I am not eligible to receive his Social Security benefit because of the government pension offset. When I reach full retirement age (66), does the GPO still apply?
Answer: Yes. Source: http://blogs.federaltimes.com, October 17, 2013
What’s Your Social Security Breakeven Date?
Answer: Deciding when to take your Social Security benefits is a key decision that will affect your finances for the rest of your life. But many Americans don’t know how to make a smart choice about starting to receive their…
Getting Social Security Disability Benefits for Anxiety Disorders
What you need to prove to get Social Security disability benefits for a severe anxiety disorder. While many individuals claim they are affected by anxiety or stress, an anxiety disorder is a mental condition in which extreme feelings of worry…
Can a judgment creditor garnish private disability payments?
Answer: Probably not. Many states won’t allow judgment creditors to take your private disability income. And even if states do allow garnishment of private disability, federal law may protect all or a portion of those payments. Read more… Source: http://www.nolo.com, October 18,…
Retirement: Should you live longer than you plan, how do you survive?
Answer: The decision you take at the end of your working career on how and where to invest your retirement fund is critical in determining how far you will enjoy the remaining part of your old age. This is because the…
What are your rights to patient privacy?
Full Question: “I work for a Fortune 500 company and I went out on disability. I had been sexually assaulted (off the job) and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. I have become extremely anxious and depressed. I filed for time off…
I am looking at the Trust Fund Data of Social Security & Medicare Tax rates from the Social Security Administration website. For the year 1971-72, I see a 4.6 withholding rate under OASDI and .600 under HI. Would a federal employee covered under CSRS in 1972 have paid the 0.6 percent into Medicare? I know they would not pay the 4.6 under OASDI.
Answer: No. Federal employees weren’t covered by Social Security until Jan. 1, 1984. Source: http://blogs.federaltimes.com – November 16, 2013