"jIM" <noreplysoccer[at]hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1116347419.103936.52830[at]o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
- quote -

Live a very long life.

Thanks Disney, Skip, and MTW. What you all said helps my understanding of
this situation.

so my additional questions would be-

1) how can one maximize how much they could potentially withdraw from
social security? implying maximize during wage earning years.

2) how can one maximize how much they can withdraw from SS during
retirement?

at some point SS gets taxed, so my questions are based on when this is
triggered and at what income do SS benefts get reduced then go away?

Elle wrote:

- quote -

If they married, Sally would lose the benefit she currently
receives based on the earnings of her former spouse (and, if the
former spouse is now dead, that amount could be substantial).
Instead, she would receive the greater of the benefit resulting
from her own earnings (presumably not much), or the 50% spousal
benefit based on Bob's earnings.

So, you'd have to do the math to see how this works out. But, the
situation you described is not that uncommon. It is interesting
to note that California's new "domestic partner" law specifically
addresses this situation. It allows seniors to achieve many of
the legal rights and protections of being married, but since it
isn't "marriage" per se, they don't lose financial benefits as a
result.

It is also interesting to note that the "defense of marriage"
devotees don't appear to favor a restructuring of benefit
programs so that marriage becomes more feasible (as per your
example).

MTW

On 17 May 2005 09:10:01 GMT, "Elle"
<elle_navorski[at]nospam.earthlink.net> wrote:

- quote -

I suspect you are referencing the family maximum benefit under SS.
Briefly it places a limit (typically 150% of the primary wage earner's
benefit, varying with situation) on what a total family can receive
where all benefits to that family are from ONE PERSON'S earnings
record. It does *not* limit what each person can receive based on
their own earnings record.

For more, go to:
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/familymax.html




-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

"Elle" <elle_navorski[at]nospam.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:yB9ie.2144$Lc1.82[at]newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
- quote -

Yes, my elderly Grandma is now "shacking up" because if she and her
boyfriend were to marry, they would lose part of their Social Security.

I have two "friends," Sally and Bob, both over the age of 70. They have
lived together for years. Sally and Bob would like to be married except, one
of them claims, for one thing: Sally claims the total of their social
security incomes would go down significantly. Can someone please reference
or summarize their understanding of Social Security law to either confirm or
deny this?

Both Sally and Bob have been divorced once. Sally never worked at a job
outside the home that paid much money, but she was originally married to a
relatively high income professional. I understand she has some social
security income as a result of her ex-husband's income.

Bob has been a well-paid attorney for almost all his adult life and
continues to practice, albeit with a reduced load.