Am I Seeing What I Think I'm Seeing?

[Randy W]

I'm 62 years old in Feb., so I just signed up to receive Social Security benefits.

 

So, first they tell me I wasn't alive for the entire month of February (only from Feb. 25), so my benefits start in March. NOW they're telling me I get the check the month AFTER it's due - so my first check arrives on April 3rd.

 

Is that right ?? Seems like we're dropping a month or two here.

 

[Thomas Promise]

Some fellows I know who sign up for SS get a double check the following month after the wait time. I think if you sign up before the 10th of the month this will apply.

[Randy W]

 

Some fellows I know who sign up for SS get a double check the following month after the wait time. I think if you sign up before the 10th of the month this will apply.

 

This is the earliest I'm eligible to sign up. March is my first month of eligibility at age 62, so I'm thinking no - but, we'll see. That would be 9 checks for 2014, instead of 10.

[tsap seui]

Randy, I'm positive you've already studied for the law where they, possibly, delay your first payment a month. They do have some strange rules. I know when they award SSDI they hold the first 5 months, maybe they give retirees a 4 month break....LOL

 

The best way I can see to beat this is to live an extra month or two past your death date. Just a thought.

 

tsap seui

 

If I wasn't armpit deep in the VA's DEA/Chapter 35 education benefits research I'd glance over the SS rules. Something is nagging at me that I heard that one month thing somewhere. I'll probably be going over to the SS office in Jan or Feb, I'll have to ask them about that. ..."yessir, my cell phone is turned off, I left my rocket launcher and AK-47 in the car, I don't have an erection nor do I have any weapons of mass destruction in my pockets."

Edited December 9, 2013 by tsap seui (see edit history)

[danb]

Randy, I goggled Social Security. Then I went to their main site. And then I did a search: "When do I get my first check?" And this is what I got:

 

http://search.socialsecurity.gov/search?affiliate=ssa&query=when+do+i+get+my+first+check%3F

 

There were several answers to the question. This was from top of the list:

 

"To receive retirement benefits, you must be age 62 for the entire month. Since you were born on the 2nd day of the month, we consider you to be age 62 for the entire month. So August is the first month you are entitled to your retirement benefit.

Monthly Social Security benefit payments are received the following month. Therefore, you will receive your first payment in September. "

Another answer was:

"If you meet all requirements for entitlement, you can receive reduced benefits beginning with the first full month you reach age 62. Thus, benefits are not paid for the month you reach age 62 unless your birthday is on the first or second day of the month.

We pay benefits in the month following the month they are due. For example, if you turn 62 on July 15, your first month of entitlement is August, and you would receive your first check in September. However, if your birthday is May 1st, then your first month of entitlement is May and you would receive your first check in June."

These answers are saying that payments are made like a paycheck. For work/benefits due/ already done. It is also saying that you are due for only 3 for 4 days for the month of Feb."

So receiving a small partial check in March would make sense. Thomas might be right about a first double check. I wonder if the first payment date is determined by the first date the payment is due (the 25 th day of the month) or simply the day that you submit the form...say on the 10 th. Maybe they are trying to send out check out later to save a little extra money for "the boys up on the hill to argue over". Danb

[danb]

I just read another answer. Says that it depends on when your birthday fall is when they send a check out. Here is the link:

 

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/8/~/when-benefits-are-paid

 

It said:

 

"For example, if the retired worker's date of birth is on:

Social Security pays retirement and spouse's benefits the month after they are due to start. For example, if your benefit start month is May, we will pay May's benefit in June.

The exact payment date is determined by the birthday of the retired worker.

For example, if the retired worker's date of birth is on:

• The 1st thru 10th - we pay the benefits on the second Wednesday of the month
• The 11th thru 20th - we pay the benefits on the third Wednesday of the month
• The 21st thru 31st - we pay the benefits on the fourth Wednesday of the month."

Those guys in Washington what are they thinking? Other possibility is maybe if you having the checked mailed or it is going into a Chinese bank?

 

Danb

[Randy W]

No - they deal in entire months only. I was born on Feb. 25, so my first "entire month" is March. I get paid for March AFTER it's over - on April 3, is what they tell me.

 

It's all electronic deposit to an American bank, so I hope it'll always be on the third (unless that falls on a week-end), but I guess that's the next question.

 

The next thing that's going to happen is going to happen on April 3. I'll just sit back until then and say, "Thankee, ma'am!" when it does.

[credzba]

Curious minds want to know Randy, so update the thread when you find the details.

 

Also, I will be curious how the wife's benefits work out.

I have read, called in and asked, and done everything I can to understand spousal benefits, but after that I still don't believe it.

 

My wife doesn't want to be US citizen, but we worry that somehow her benefits will be impacted if she doesn't.

[tsap seui]

Randy will get his direct deposit in April, and it should be on the 4th Wednesday as they pay for the current month....the following month. They make benefit direct deposits on Wednesdays.. With my birthday on Feb 1 I get my SSDI checks on the second Wednesday (they pay out according to the day of the month of your birthday.....1st-10th on the second Wednesday..11th -20th on the third Wednesday...21st -31st on the 4th) of each month. It that day is on a Saturday or Sunday, I get my DD on Friday. If it falls on a hollarday I get it the day before the hollarday.

 

They have never been late and always pay early on weekends and hollardayz. Starting in MArch 2013 they only do DD's or you have to get some sorta credit card deal that they reload. When I started getting my SSDI in 2006 they used to pay out with those beautiful checks with the eagle on them. We are getting a COLA of 1.5% starting in January 2014.

 

Credz, as far as I've seen there is no problem at all for your wife staying a LPR and collecting SS. My wife isn't going to become a US citizen either. I also found she can collect my survivor benefits in China also....another story.

 

Old rOGgiE would say Randy is shortcutting his wife by taking retirement at 62. Smart thinkers say you are better off to take your retirement when it is first available...you usually get more money, overall, if you take it early.

 

What is the full retirement age now in America for males....95??? LOL Before someone corrects me....that was a joke, but it probably won't be that long before they change the age, as they run our country farther down the terlet and need to "do something."

 

A helpful pamphlet on the SS website for you fellers retiring soon is "What you need to know when you get Retirement of Survivors benefits". There is much more in the code but this book explains some of the questions raised here.

 

tsap seui

Edited December 12, 2013 by tsap seui (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Curious minds want to know Randy, so update the thread when you find the details.

 

Also, I will be curious how the wife's benefits work out.

I have read, called in and asked, and done everything I can to understand spousal benefits, but after that I still don't believe it.

 

My wife doesn't want to be US citizen, but we worry that somehow her benefits will be impacted if she doesn't.

 

Payment Schedule: 3rd of the month

Next Payment Date: April 3, 2014

What they tell me is that I'll be getting my benefits on the third of every month, beginning April 3. I guess that calendar thing is for the mailed out benefits or the ones already on that schedule, although they stopped doing the mailings as of March, 2013 (you MUST sign up for electronic deposit). One thing I found interesting was that my estimated benefits didn't go down after 3 years of $0 SS income. The only thing I can figure there is that I had enough years of above or near the max taxable amount. They actually increased the amount, I'm sure because of the COLA.

 

For us, taking the benefits NOW is a no-brainer, since I can simply shovel all those funds directly to the wife for living expenses. I can keep my IRA money to play with and invest. The SS money continues indefinitely - the IRA money does not, especially if we were having to live on it. But I'm taking a 25% hit by doing that - not a problem as long as I can keep my IRA intact.

 

The wife's benefits are harder to pin down. There's no online calculator you can go to to calculate benefits based on someone else's earnings. I had thought I would need to go to Guangzhou right about now to sign up - and had planned on asking my questions then. But now, I find out I can sign up online, and the nearest SS office is in Manila.

 

My "full retirement" age is 66 - my wife's is 67. She says she wants to take her benefits at the earliest age (62), but she may change her mind when she sees the amounts. There's no real reason for her to take early benefits, but I'll probably just hand over ALL SS money to her

 

But, from reading online, my understanding is that our wives are entitled to both spousal benefits and survivor benefits upon reaching THEIR retirement age. Spousal benefits are 50% of what you are getting, although I'm unclear as to whether that's 50% of your actual check, or 50% of your full retirement amount. Her check is likewise adjusted by the age at which she begins drawing benefits.

 

Again just based on reading, she CAN draw benefits based on your earnings while living in China, IF she spent a minimum of 5 years living with her wage earner in the U.S. (citizenship doesn't matter) Jiaying is 15 months short of that milestone, so we're looking at a possible little reverse migration sometime in the next few years. The rules say that you need to be able to show that you actually LIVED somewhere, and that it's not simply an extended vacation - so I'm not looking forward to that at all. For me, it'll simply be 15 months away from home, no matter where we are.

 

So my plan is to get her started when she reaches her retirement age. My own benefits will go to an American bank, and then forwarded here through my usual channels. I have the American bank, an American stock brokerage, American credit cards, an American phone number and mailing address. I'll have to figure out something that'll be a little more reasonable for her to maintain after I'm gone.

[Randy W]

Another advantage to drawing early SS benefits is that they're tax free. For a married couple, your earnings are tax free up to almost $20,000. When you include SS benefits on top of that, you can draw up to around $40,000 tax free, since the SS benefits are taxed by a different formula.

 

These are ballpark figures, of course, since the exact amounts depend on how much you get from SS.

 

A drawback is that one you go above that limit, then your SS benefits become taxable also, albeit at a 50% rate. This effectively puts you into a 15% bracket, instead of 10%.

[tsap seui]

The reason you're amount didn't go down with 3 years of zero earnings is they only take your top 5 years of earnings to figure your benefit amount. You could have had 10 years of 0 earnings. For a wife with a husband who takes early retirement they will draw on the reduced amount. It gets locked in to the amount the husband takes.

 

In our case I was awarded SSDI at age 56 for the agent orange heart and Vietnam scrambled brains, the very things I have 100% service connected by the VA. With SSDI they pay out the full amount as if I had retired at age 66 my full retirement age. They pay me for SSDI up until age 65 then it turns into regular SS, still paid at the full amount. If my wife goes back to China when I go to shake hands with Jimi and Stevie Ray her money will be direct deposited in her bank in the states and she'll be able to draw on it from her bank in Chinartucky. VA's DIC benefit will be done the same way. Our problem is that pesky, and looked at on both ends, $50,000 a year transfer limit to China The rabbit will be 90 before she could transfer over the last 100 Ben Franklins...OPPS

 

Not disputing the 3rd of the month, just never meet anyone who wasn't getting their DD on anything but a Wednesday as the SS pamphlet states. Although, the pamphlet does state that if you are getting SSI and SS benefits, your SS will be DD on the 3rd of the month and SSI on the 1st. Then again, besides the DD and "Direct Express Card (for folks who don't have a bank account, the 3rd option is an Electronic Transfer Account (maybe that goes out on the 3rd too). Course, at the end of the day, it's all a moot point for once it gets started, no mater the day, a month is a month.

 

tsap seui

What a life I tells ya. If it wasn't hilarious, I'd have died a long time ago

[Randy W]

The reason you're amount didn't go down with 3 years of zero earnings is they only take your top 5 years of earnings to figure your benefit amount. You could have had 10 years of 0 earnings. For a wife with a husband who takes early retirement they will draw on the reduced amount. It gets locked in to the amount the husband takes.

 

In our case I was awarded SSDI at age 56 for the agent orange heart and Vietnam scrambled brains, the very things I have 100% service connected by the VA. With SSDI they pay out the full amount as if I had retired at age 66 my full retirement age. They pay me for SSDI up until age 65 then it turns into regular SS, still paid at the full amount. If my wife goes back to China when I go to shake hands with Jimi and Stevie Ray her money will be direct deposited in her bank in the states and she'll be able to draw on it from her bank in Chinartucky. VA's DIC benefit will be done the same way. Our problem is that pesky, and looked at on both ends, $50,000 a year transfer limit to China The rabbit will be 90 before she could transfer over the last 100 Ben Franklins...OPPS

 

Not disputing the 3rd of the month, just never meet anyone who wasn't getting their DD on anything but a Wednesday as the SS pamphlet states. Although, the pamphlet does state that if you are getting SSI and SS benefits, your SS will be DD on the 3rd of the month and SSI on the 1st. Then again, besides the DD and "Direct Express Card (for folks who don't have a bank account, the 3rd option is an Electronic Transfer Account (maybe that goes out on the 3rd too). Course, at the end of the day, it's all a moot point for once it gets started, no mater the day, a month is a month.

 

tsap seui

What a life I tells ya. If it wasn't hilarious, I'd have died a long time ago

 

 

I thought your benefits were figured on the top 35 years - and the estimates always assumed that I would continue at my top salary level for the remainder of my career.

 

Which banks (both U.S. and China ends) are you talking about here? We have Bank of America, but the only way to get it out at this end is at the ATM (with fees as of this month) or a wire transfer

 

Ths is from SS - http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v68n2/v68n2p1.html - an interesting formula, which apparently worked to my advantage.

Wage-Indexed Average Earnings. SSA does not currently calculate replacement rates relative to final earnings. As reported in the Performance and Accountability Report, SSA (2004) defines replacement rates as "the ratio of the retired worker's benefit based on his or her own earnings to his or her own average indexed monthly earnings." In calculating the average indexed monthly earnings, or AIME, past earnings are first wage-indexed to age 60.⁸ That is, earnings in a past year are multiplied by the ratio of economy-wide average earnings at age 60 to average earnings in the year in which the earnings took place. For example, if a worker retiring at age 62 in 2006 earned the average wage of $5,472 in 1968, those wages would be indexed to $35,010, the average wage in 2004 (when the beneficiary turned 60).⁹ From these wage-indexed earnings years, the highest 35 are averaged and then the earnings are expressed as a monthly figure.

 

. . .

 

However, . . . a wage-indexed average will still raise other issues, namely that it overstates real earnings level in past years. Imagine an individual who earned the average wage in every year of his life. Assuming he retired at 65, his wage-indexed average would be higher in real terms than all but 4 years of earnings throughout his lifetime. Thus, a wage-indexed average of an individual's lifetime earnings may not be representative of the consumption possibilities open to that individual. Boskin and Shoven (1987) argue that wage-indexed averages "greatly overstate the average absolute real level of earnings; [wage-indexed] career average replacement rates have a relative income component embedded in them."

[Randy W]

The only thing I can figure about the date of my payments is that people who received benefits before 1997 receive them on the 3rd, and that the date does not change, unless you volunteer for a change in cycle.

 

I'm a new retiree, but I did receive benefits for a short time back in the early 1970's when my father had a series of strokes while I was still a college student.

 

I'm not sure that the date would continue from that after all that time, but I don't see anything anywhere about them converting to a new system of payments on the third for new beneficiaries.

[tsap seui]

Who knows what mystery lurks in the dark cavernous halls of the SSA??? MUUUHHAAAAAAAA

 

I'll be going to the local yokel SSA office in Altoona in January to provide evidence of our son's high school attendance so he can continue to collect his SSDI bene when he turns 18 in March until he graduates in June.

 

Got any questions for me to ask the horse's ass...er...ah...mouth...while I'm there? Send me two fish heads and rub Buddha's big belly twice and I'll ask them for ya.

 

tsap seui