Social Security Survivor Benefits Will Not Change - YouTube

The next area which hasn't changed, by the way, is survivor benefits.

So, let's say that we have a husband and a wife.

They're each receiving social security. Let's say one is getting $2,000 and the other is getting $1,200. And one of them dies. For our purposes, it doesn't matter

which one. The survivor will get the higher of the two - okay? That's actually very

important.

And it goes back to strategy, 'cause remember earlier I said I almost always want the

primary earner - the person with the highest earnings record - to wait until 70 to collect on his or

her own record? One of the reasons I say that is because even if - let's say for

discussion's sake - that you have the stronger earnings record and you're 66 years old and the doctor says, "Bad news,

you have cancer, you're gonna die in 5 years." The good news is your wife is in great health, she's gonna live to 95.

Not withstanding the fact that you're gonna die in 5 years by the time you're 70. Let's say it was a certain, which it never is...I would still want you to hold

off on your social security to get those 8% raises and that way when

you die, let's just say between 66 and 70, your wife will get another 32% in

social security for the rest of her life. Usually the goals is to take acre of both spouses, not just one. So you have

to think about the spousal strategy and usually the goal is a chore, no matter what

happens and no matter what happens to the market

etcetera etcetera etcetera, both husband and wife

gonna be fine. So the survivor benefit is very important for strategy. How much,

how much will they get? It partly depends on how much and when the husband filed. So if he claims before he was 66,

he's gonna get less and she's gonna get less. If he filed after he was 66, she's going to get the benefit of delayed credits.

I think this is just a numeric example of the same thing. He gets $2,000, she gets

$1,200. He dies, she notified Social Security, her $1,200 benefit is replaced

by his $2,000 benefit. By the way, please notice though, together as a couple

they're getting $3,200. If either one of them die, now they get $2,000. Their incomes go down, and that's something that

you have to think about when you are doing long-term planning. Or worst case scenario, where you have two people

that have good social security earnings records. Let's say they're both getting $30,000 and one of them died. Now

the survivor has to live on $30,000 less. So we have to consider that. Alright,

survivor benefits: the couple has to be married at least nine months, unless there was an accident, and a survivor

has to be at least 50, they'll get a reduced benefit - I'm sorry, 60 or 50 if disabled, if they want a full retirement

amount, they have to wait till 66. Alright, the survivor benefit is not available to a widow or widower if they remarry

before age 66 - I'm sorry, 60. I literally have people who are doing marital

planning. By the way, it's serious stuff. I actually wrote a book on that for same-sex couples, but frankly it

applies to unmarried couples. And I guess she [mentions to audience member] just went to a marketing thing it was

authority marketing and their whole thing is "Content is marketing." And that's me cause

that's my marketing, I throw out content. And any way they want to change the title to "Get Married for the Money."

By the way this is in my own family - so, my brother is three times divorced

and he's in his sixties. He is deeply in love with number four, alright. He is a retired

college professor, has a wonderful record for social security, has a really nice

retirement plan.

Alright if anything ever happens to him, he's gonna leave his money to the love of

his life. They bought a house together, they share a bed together, they're not married.

I actually wrote two peer-reviewed articles on this. I want to talk about the spousal benefits for social security, so let's simplify and say hers is

5 thousand and his is 30 thousand. If they get married and he dies, she has $30,000. If they don't get

married and he dies, you get $5,000. Those aren't the real numbers, but conceptually, the other thing is,

beyond the scope of today, it is much better to inherit an IRA or retirement

plan if you're married, then if you're single. And she saying, "Gee, we shouldn't get

married for the money."

And I'm thinking, "What's the matter with you, of course you should!"

You know, you have a house together, you share a bed, protect yourself

financially. So get married for the money.

Survivor benefits for social security is one of the main reasons I'm a big fan of that.