My ex-husband clearly solely had jobs that paid him in money or underneath the desk since our divorce 23 years in the past. I discovered this out after calling the Social Safety workplace to use for his retirement checks. He is not receiving any as a result of the small quantity he had in his account whittled right down to nothing. Does that imply I’ve no recourse?
-L.
Pricey L.,
You may solely accumulate Social Safety on a present or former partner’s work file in the event that they’re eligible for advantages. They should be at the very least 62 and have a minimal of 40 work credit. That quantities to 10 years of working and paying the payroll taxes that fund Social Safety and Medicare.
In case your ex-husband isn’t eligible for Social Safety and he’s 62 or older, it’s as a result of he hasn’t earned 40 work credit, not as a result of he’s depleted an account. Social Safety doesn’t have separate accounts put aside for every of us. Advantages are paid out from Social Safety’s belief fund primarily based on how a lot you paid into the system.
I’m questioning if working underneath the desk appears consistent with the particular person you knew 23 years in the past. This can be a lengthy shot, but when your ex-husband normally labored a daily job, maybe it’s value one other name to Social Safety to confirm that they’ve the right figuring out data. Bear in mind, although, that each one that is moot should you had been married for lower than 10 years, as you wouldn’t be eligible in your ex’s profit even when it exists.
In case your ex doesn’t qualify for retirement advantages, sadly, you gained’t qualify for ex-spousal advantages. However perhaps that’s not the dire information you assume it’s.
I’m guessing you’ve survived these previous 23 years with out help out of your ex-husband. Should you’ve earned at the very least 40 work credit by yourself, you’ll most likely get extra money by taking your individual retirement profit.
Advantages for spouses and ex-spouses aren’t fairly the boon many individuals count on. The typical month-to-month spousal profit as of June 2022 was $835 vs. $1,623 for the common retirement profit. You don’t get a spousal profit on prime of your individual profit. Social Safety merely provides you whichever profit is larger, however not each advantages.
The explanation spousal advantages are a lot decrease is that the utmost profit you possibly can accumulate is 50% of your partner’s or ex-spouse’s full retirement profit. Should you apply earlier than your full retirement age, which is 66 or 67, relying on once you had been born, you’ll get even much less. For instance, should you begin Social Safety at 62, the earliest age you possibly can accumulate retirement advantages, you’d obtain simply 32.5% of your ex’s profit.
You can also’t rating larger month-to-month checks by delaying. If you take your individual profit, you get an additional 8% per 12 months for ready to take Social Safety till you attain your most profit at 70. However spousal advantages cap out at your full retirement age of 66 or 67.
Should you’ve labored some, however not sufficient to earn your individual Social Safety profit, think about whether or not you may get a job to achieve these 40 credit. You may earn as much as 4 credit per 12 months. In 2022, you’d must earn simply $6,040 to earn the four-credit most, so even working just a few hours every week at a part-time job may assist you qualify. Delaying Social Safety for so long as potential to gather an even bigger profit would even be sensible on this scenario.
Within the worst-case state of affairs that you just haven’t labored sufficient to get Social Safety, you’d nonetheless have the ability to obtain Supplemental Safety Revenue (SSI) when you’re 65. Not like Social Safety advantages, SSI isn’t primarily based in your work file. The utmost month-to-month profit for a person in 2022 is $841 — barely greater than the common spousal profit.
Spousal advantages normally make sense when one partner was the principle breadwinner over a protracted marriage. However you’ve been residing with out your ex for 23 years. You will have choices for gathering advantages, however they gained’t come out of your ex-husband’s work file.
Robin Hartill is a licensed monetary planner and a senior author at The FinanceGrabber. Ship your tough cash inquiries to [email protected].