In determining your retirement benefits from Social Security, as well as those of any dependents who may claim benefits based upon your record, the Primary Insurance Amount, or PIA, is an important factor. The PIA is the amount of benefit that you would receive if you began receiving benefits at exactly your Full Retirement Age, or FRA. (see this article for information about determining your FRA). The PIA is only one of the factors used in determining the actual amount of your retirement benefit – the other factor being the date (or rather your age) when you elect to begin receiving retirement benefits. So, how is PIA calculated? There are several factors that go into the calculation of the PIA. You start off with your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME – which we defined in this article about the AIME). Then, we take into account the bend points for the […]
social security benefits
The Social Security Survivor Benefit – Part 2
Note: you can find the first part of this discussion of Social Security Survivor Benefits at the link. Part 1 covered the basics of Survivor Benefits, and this article covers other considerations with the Survivor Benefit, including non-spouse survivor’s benefits and coordinating the Survivor Benefit with your own benefit. As mentioned in the prior articles, don’t expect to fully understand these calculations and definitions in the first run-through. Check over the other articles (links within article text) for more information, and post questions in the comment section if they come up.
How Survivor Benefits are Treated
When you’re married to someone who has worked under the Social Security taxation system, you have two different benefits that may be available to you: Survivor Benefits, and Spousal Benefits. These two benefits may be more than the benefit you’ve earned under your own working record. Spousal Benefits are available while your spouse (or ex-spouse) is still alive. Survivor Benefits are available after your spouse’s (or ex-spouse’s) death. Social Security Survivor Benefits are much different from Spousal Benefits in several ways. In fact, there’s very little to compare between the two, other than that they are benefits for the spouse or ex-spouse of someone who earned a Social Security Retirement Benefit. Here are the primary things that you need to know about Survivor Benefits: Survivor Benefits can be claimed as early as age 60. Of course, as with all early claims for benefits, the amount will be reduced if you […]
3 Myths About Social Security Filing Age
This article takes a long hard look at these three “facts” about Social Security filing age and shows the real math behind them. All three are only true to a point – and as you’re planning your Social Security filing age, you should understand the real truth behind these three items. First, let’s look at the concept of delay. You Should Always Delay Your Social Security Filing Age to 70 This one is the easiest to understand why it’s wrong – but the component of truth in it can be important because it could work in your favor to delay. Of course an absolute like this is going to be proven incorrect in some circumstances. If you happen to be able to delay your Social Security filing age and you live a long time after age 70, over your lifetime you will receive more from Social Security than if you […]
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
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