As an American, you may now be enjoying your life in Dumaguete after a divorce. One thing that may make it enjoyable is that your ex-spouse lives in the US, leaving you carefree to roam the boulevard and the City.
Does this mean, however, that you should totally forget about your ex-spouse? Probably not when thinking about Social Security. Why? Because a divorced spouse reaching full retirement age under the US Social Security rules often has several options.
They can claim their own Social Security, or in some cases, the Social Security under their ex-spouse’s work record. The best choice depends on the personal situation.
Age plays a part in how much that benefit will be. Once you’re 66, or if born between 1943 to 1954, you have reached what is called your full retirement age (FRA), and are entitled to 50 percent of your ex’s full primary insurance amount (PIA), which is the benefit he/she would get at their FRA.
So if your ex-spouse’s PIA were estimated to be $1,600, at your FRA, you’d collect $800.
But if you collect early, there’s a penalty in the form of a reduction of 25/36 of one percent for every month you are ahead of your FRA.
Therefore, collecting at the age of 62 would permanently reduce your benefit. To get the full benefit, you need to wait until your FRA.
To qualify to collect under an ex-spouse’s work record, you must be at least 62 years old, must have been married for a minimum of 10 years, if your ex hasn’t yet filed for benefits he/she is eligible, you must have been divorced for two years, you must be currently unmarried, and if you did remarry, that marriage must have ended.
The ex-spouse doesn’t have to be involved in the application process to collect benefits based on his/her record — assuming that your marriage and divorce status qualifies under Social Security rules governing ex-spouse benefits.
The ex-spouse does not have to have filed for benefits; they only have to be eligible (at least age 62). As long as they are eligible to collect, you’re eligible for a spousal benefit.
Unfortunately, if you aren’t in touch with your ex and don’t know their PIA, you won’t know exactly what your spousal benefit will be until you file. The Social Security Administration can’t tell you anything in advance.
If you’re under your FRA, the benefit based on your own work record must be less than the spousal benefit from your ex-spouse.
If you have more than one ex-spouse (with a minimum 10-year marriage), you can collect on either spouse’s record, but not both.
Likewise, you can’t collect simultaneously from your own work record and from an ex-spouse’s. It’s one or the other.
Knowing when to file, and understanding the rules is important. When you file for ex-spousal benefits before your FRA, you can’t then switch to your own benefits.
Not only that, at age 62, your benefit would be the greater of either your own benefit (reduced because you filed early), or the spousal benefit (also reduced).
Therefore, filing before your FRA not only lowers your benefit amount, it limits your options. Filing after your FRA is typically the best choice.
If you file for your spousal benefit after your FRA, you can always switch back to your benefit.
Every year you wait to collect on your own work record, you’ll earn delayed retirement credits of around eight percent until you reach 70.
As a general rule, it is best to wait until your FRA to file for benefits under your ex-spouse.
As to your own benefit, waiting until age 70 may yield the largest benefit.
But never postpone a spousal or ex-spousal benefit past your FRA because it maxes out at your FRA, unlike your benefit that maxes out at age 70.
The bottom line, you need to understand how the Social Security rules apply to your situation. The right decision can mean more money for you; the wrong decision, less money.
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Author’s email: wolff2000@earthlink.net
