Dear Annie: Readers weigh in on previous letter
Dear Readers: A great many of you wrote in about the letter “estranged” and gave lots of clarification on what the ex-spouse’s benefits are. Below are two letters that address the issue. Thank you all for your feedback.
Dear Annie: If you have been married for 10 years, you can collect spouse’s Social Security benefits regardless of whether there is a divorce. I know this because I missed it by one month. – Bad Timing
Dear Bad Timing: Wow. Only a month? Too bad. Thanks for sharing.
Dear Annie: This is regarding the letter from “Estranged.” about Social Security benefits. You might be interested to know that when divorced, if you meet the criteria, you can choose to receive either 50% of your ex-spouse’s benefit or your own benefit (whichever is higher) once you reach retirement age.
Not only may divorced spouses find themselves living on one salary (instead of possibly one much higher salary, or even two), but they may be unable to get a high-paying job due to having been out of the workforce for years. Examples are stay-at-home or part-time working parents.
The Social Security rules can help protect the lower-income spouse from being forced into total poverty at retirement age. Due to the plethora of choices that met the needs of their family at that time, they might have been contributing less or nothing to Social Security for years and not building up their own Social Security contributions on a yearly basis, and they may not have a 401(k). Personal Social Security benefits are based on your top 35 years of income.
This is just the tip of Social Security rules for beneficiaries. This does not address many other possible situations and variations. I think everyone should be aware of Social Security benefits and rules early on, and keep up with changes way before retirement. – Been There
Dear Been There: Thank you for addressing this issue, especially with so many baby boomers applying for Social Security. I would recommend going to https://www.SSA.gov, which explains in detail how spouses can claim benefits even after a divorce.
Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.