I am a dual citizen American/Cdn and moved to the U.S. in 2006 when I married my American husband. My husband started receiving his social security when he turned 70 last year. I receive CPP and have never worked in the U.S. I had planned to collect social security (on my husband's work record) upon my full retirement age (66 and 4 months) next year. Thank you for answering these questions:
1. I recently applied for Medicare on-line and was required to apply for Social Security as well (or the system would not accept my Medicare application). On my on-line application I tried to explain this problem. Once my Social Security application is approved, I plan to immediately cancel the SS benefits because I don't want these benefits reduced for drawing earlier than FRA. Do you have any advice on how to handle this situation?
2. Because of the CPP I have been receiving, I understand that the SS benefits I'm eligible for can be reduced because of WEP. What is the maximum the SS might be reduced? Is this amount converted form CAD to USD?
3. Will the SS I receive be based on my husband's SS amount at his FRA.... or his current SS benefit that started when he turned 70 last year?
4. Is it correct that the Cdn OAS I'll be receiving this year does not impact the SS benefits I'll be receiving?
5. My husband is continuing to work past 70 yrs old and to contribute to SS. Will his benefit be adjusted upwards and when does that generally occur?
Thank you!
Hi. You can file for Medicare online without also applying for Social Security benefits. However, if you have applied for Social Security benefits then the only way to cancel that is to withdraw your application. You are permitted to withdraw just your Social Security application without withdrawing your application for Medicare. For information on how to go about doing that, refer to the following Social Security publication: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/withdrawal.html.
The maximum amount of reduction that can apply to a person's Social Security retirement benefit rate as the result of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) is the lower of a) roughly around $500, or b) one-half of the amount of the non-Social Security covered pension.
Unreduced Social Security spousal benefits are based on 50% of the worker's primary insurance amount (PIA), even if the worker waits until age 70 to start drawing their benefits. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA). However, if you were born after January 1 1954 you can't apply for spousal benefits without also filing for your own Social Security retirement benefits at the same time. You would then be paid essentially the higher of the two benefit rates, and your benefit rate would be reduced if you start drawing benefits prior to your full retirement age (FRA).
Yes, it's true that Canadian OAS pensions have no effect on a person's U.S. Social Security benefits (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0201701320). Canada's OAS pensions are based on residence, not earnings. However, receipt of a QPP or CPP pension from Canada, which are based on earnings, can potentially result in a WEP reduction to a person's U.S. Social Security retirement or disability benefit amount.
Your husband's Social Security retirement benefit rate may be increased as a result of his continuing work, but only if his Social Security covered earnings in a year are higher than they were in one of his previous highest 35 years of wage indexed earnings. Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings, so additional years of earnings only increase a person's benefit rate if they're higher than one or more of the 35 years currently being used to calculate the person's benefit rate.
Best, Jerry
