social security question - Page 3

esmerelda · ‎03-10-2010

I thought SS benefits were based on what a person earned during their working life.

If that's the case, I don't know how there can be a "limit" on the monthly benefit.

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Keepin' it real.

BellaPaprika · ‎03-09-2010

On 3/30/2014 ~moxie~ said:
On 3/30/2014 happy housewife said:
On 3/30/2014 ~moxie~ said:
When my husband passed away I got 98% of his SS which is around $2600 a month.

per SS.gov the max anyone can collect on SS each month is $2346.
Well you are wrong. I received 98% of my husbands ss after he passed away.

In fairness to happy housewife, that's a number mentioned several years ago on some retirement websites. It's fora person retiring at full retirement age and not working at all after that. You can take your social security benefit at full retirement age (right now that's 66 I believe) but keep working and add to your benefit up to age 70. According to the SSA the max you can then receive is $3425 a month.

BellaPaprika · ‎03-09-2010

On 3/30/2014 esmerelda said:
I thought SS benefits were based on what a person earned during their working life.

If that's the case, I don't know how there can be a "limit" on the monthly benefit.

The purpose of social security retirement benefits when they were first instituted was to make certain that retirees weren't starving and living like beggars as happened back in the day to many. It was never meant to be a savings account or pension type fund based solely on your earnings. If there was no limit set then millionaires and billionaires would get huge monthly benefits that they don't need.

esmerelda · ‎03-10-2010

On 3/30/2014 BlueCollarBabe said:
On 3/30/2014 esmerelda said:
I thought SS benefits were based on what a person earned during their working life.

If that's the case, I don't know how there can be a "limit" on the monthly benefit.

The purpose of social security retirement benefits when they were first instituted was to make certain that retirees weren't starving and living like beggars as happened back in the day to many. It was never meant to be a savings account or pension type fund based solely on your earnings. If there was no limit set then millionaires and billionaires would get huge monthly benefits that they don't need.

I hate it when someone declares what someone else needs or doesn't need.

I am close to someone who, because of her low-wage jobs throughout her life, will get a benefit of less than $200 when she retires AT 70! Think she'll be starving and living like a beggar?

Benefits are given based on some kind of formula...not need or lack of it.

*********************
Keepin' it real.

pdxlalesley · ‎09-15-2010

On 3/30/2014 happy housewife said: if you retire at 62 you will get 25% (or it could have changed by now ) less per month than if you wait til your full retirement age - which for you would be 66 I think. The thing is - once you start to collect at that lower amount you are stuck there for life - you can't get the higher amount once you reach full retirement age. Also - if you chose to keep working after you turn 62 - each year you would get a little more - for instance my DH retired one year before his full retirement age and his was only 6% less than if he had worked that additional year.

Not true, you are certainly not stuck there for life. Via AARP my DH and I explored the SS website and found out that if I retired at 62 and collected my SS benefit, I could at any time return the funds give me in full, no interest, to SS and re-file at an older age. Please don't spread misinformation about something so important.

muttmom · ‎11-28-2012

On 3/30/2014 esmerelda said:
<br />

I hate it when someone declares what someone else needs or doesn't need.

I am close to someone who, because of her low-wage jobs throughout her life, will get a benefit of less than $200 when she retires AT 70! Think she'll be starving and living like a beggar?

Benefits are given based on some kind of formula...not need or lack of it.

I thought the were based on your earnings, but there is a cap. Once you reach that threshold there is basically 1 category.

$200 does seem awfully low.

BellaPaprika · ‎03-09-2010

On 3/30/2014 esmerelda said:
On 3/30/2014 BlueCollarBabe said:
On 3/30/2014 esmerelda said:
I thought SS benefits were based on what a person earned during their working life.

If that's the case, I don't know how there can be a "limit" on the monthly benefit.

The purpose of social security retirement benefits when they were first instituted was to make certain that retirees weren't starving and living like beggars as happened back in the day to many. It was never meant to be a savings account or pension type fund based solely on your earnings. If there was no limit set then millionaires and billionaires would get huge monthly benefits that they don't need.

I hate it when someone declares what someone else needs or doesn't need.

I am close to someone who, because of her low-wage jobs throughout her life, will get a benefit of less than $200 when she retires AT 70! Think she'll be starving and living like a beggar?

Benefits are given based on some kind of formula...not need or lack of it.

Obviously a millionaire does not "need" social security benefits but as you say they are entitled. However it was never intended to make anyone rich or even comfortable for that matter nor was it envisioned that it would be all someone has to live on. So for all those reasons there is a maximum one can receive whether you like it or not. It is what it is.

Suzy Snowflake · ‎05-14-2013

"" Please don't spread misinformation about something so important.""..................................;Could someone please start a thread for cranky posters. Today has seen a dearth of them and god love 'em they need to be heard! Just not on serious threads. ??

~moxie~ · ‎08-13-2013

My husband started taking SS when he was 65. He said that waiting until 70 or older was a waste of time. He still worked and if he exceeded the amount that was allowed with benefits he simply played the extra taxes. He was a CPA and knew quite well how to use your benefits to the maximum. Sadly the year he was going to retire he passed away. Think of those 5 years that he was receiving SS benefits and still making a good salary.

kittymomNC · ‎08-09-2012

Just my two cents --- there is some good information and a lot of bad and confusing information on this thread...

OP, please go to your local Social Security office with your husband, sit down face to face with them, and have a list of all your questions so they can give you the answers you need. That is the only way you are going to get the facts about your particular situation... good luck to you....