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Claiming vs. waiting: weighing the financial cost of benefits
James Brumley explains the dilemma that many wanting to retire will face– do I claim benefits at some point between 62 and 67 or wait even longer until age 70? Monthly checks are permanently higher the longer one waits to start Social Security. Brumley shows this in a chart. He notes the difference is several hundred dollars per month, and folks need to carefully consider their options. Full piece in USA Today here.
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Please provide examples of applying for spousal child-in-care benefits (with children younger than age 16) and for child still in school benefits starting with age 62. Please address how spouse can get spousal child-in-care benefits and not impact getting her own social security benefits later. Articles which say they are addressing taking Social Security at age 62 all seem to ignore these other benefit options.
Martin
You are correct, child-in-care benefits are not commonly mentioned in articles about deciding when to take your Social Security benefits. Most of those articles are based on starting your retirement benefits. Child-in-care benefits usually are only an option for someone at 62 in the case of a younger spouse or having an adult disabled child. They can also be an option for a younger window.
The child-in-care credit is available to any spouse with a child under the age of 16 or an adult disabled child before the age of 22.
Married spouse - if your spouse starts taking their Social Security benefits and you have a qualifying child in the home, you become eligible for a child-in-care benefit equal to 50% of your spouse’s Social Security full retirement age (FRA) benefit amount regardless of what age they start taking their benefits. Each qualifying child also becomes eligible for a benefit equal to 50% of their parents FRA benefit amount. However, the family maximum does not allow each of you to receive 50% of that benefit. The family maximum is anywhere from 150% to 180% of the FRA benefit amount.
Example - Spouse and one child = you would each receive a benefit equal to approximately 37.5% of the FRA amount of the spouse taking their Social Security.
If you should turn 62 while receiving a child-in-care benefit or are already 62 when applying, you can continue receiving this benefit until you reach 70 if you still have a qualifying child in your care. If you are already 62, restrict your application to the child-in-care benefit only, allowing your retirement benefit to continue growing.
A surviving ex-spouse of any age is eligible for child-care-credit and the length of marriage rule is waived. However, an ex-spouse is only eligible for a child-in-care benefit until they are 62.
If you have any questions about your situation, please contact our free Social Security Advisory Service at 888-750-2622 or via email at SSAdvisor@amacfoundation.org.
Thanks for your comments.
Sharon Kleczka
Social Security Advisor RSSA/NSSA
The AMAC Foundation