Hello, my mother died about 30 years ago at the age of 52. I was 24 years old and did not know anything about collecting her social security funds. She had worked about 25 years at ATT and had money coming to her. I am asking now, can I still collect her funds from her retirement account? She was not married to my dad the 10 years required so I thought the kids get her funds, but I could be wrong.
Hello again, I am 56 years old and would like to retire at 62. I know I do not get the full amount of money at that time but a percentage of it. I am wondering if I can unretire at 65 and go back to work for a brief time and then retire at say 70 years of age. Is that possible? Are there penalties? Thanks, alex
Hi. No. The Social Security taxes that people pay do not go into an individual account like an IRA. Those taxes go into a trust fund that's used to pay benefits to people who meet the benefit eligibility requirements. Social Security taxes that a person pays cannot be refunded to the person themselves nor their surviving family members.
If a person dies prior to collecting benefits, the Social Security taxes they paid stay in the Social Security trust fund to be used to pay other beneficiaries. The only way that a surviving family member can collect anything from a deceased person's Social Security contributions is if the family member qualifies for survivor benefits (e.g. widow's benefits, child benefits, etc.). Therefore, the only way that you might be able to collect anything based on your mother's Social Security contributions is if you qualify for disabled adult child's benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0410.html).
With regard to your second question, once you file for your Social Security retirement benefits that entitlement continues for life. You can't apply to be paid benefits for a temporary period, then stop your entitlement and apply again at a later date.
However, if you apply for benefits at age 62 and then return to work prior to your full retirement age (FRA), your benefit payments may need to be suspended depending upon how much you earn. That's because of Social Security's earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html). And, if any of your benefits are withheld due to the earnings test, your Social Security retirement benefit rate would be adjusted effective with the month you reach FRA to remove some of the reduction for age that was originally applied to your benefit rate.
For example, let's say Sue starts drawing her Social Security retirement benefits at age 62. Sue's primary insurance amount, which is what she'd be eligible for if she waits until FRA to start drawing, is $2000. However, since Sue is filing at age 62 her benefit rate is reduced to $1408. Sue draws her benefits for 3 years and then returns to full time work at age 65. Sue's earnings are high enough to require all of her benefits to be withheld for the 24 months from age 65 until her FRA at age 67. In that case, Sue's retirement benefit rate would be adjusted effective with her FRA to remove the reduction for age that was applied to her benefit rate for the 24 months that she wasn't paid. That would raise her monthly rate from $1408 to $1611.
Another thing that you could do even if you file for your benefits at age 62 would be to voluntarily suspend your benefits once you reach FRA. If you voluntarily suspend your benefits, when you resume payments your benefit rate is increased by 2/3rds of 1% for each month that your benefits were suspended.
You may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.
Best, Jerry
