extra money for your retirement

By: Gordon Thomson

Would you like to be receiving more money each month to pay bills, do a bit of shopping or travel, if you answered yes then read on because you may qualify for additional Social Security benefits. 

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It is important for you to know what benefits you are entitled to after you retire whether or not you have made any Social Security contributions.  If you are divorced you may qualify for Social Security benefits based on your ex-spouse contributions record.  Even if you remarried and moved on, there are laws set out as to how the benefits will be handed out and this is based on;

•  If the marriage lasted ten years or longer
• If you have been divorced for at least two years

•  If your ex-spouse is still unmarried
  
•  If your ex-spouse is sixty two years or older
•  If you are entitled to Social Security retirement or disability benefits
  

When you become entitled to collect retirement benefits from your own records, that amount will be paid first. In case the following happens;

• The retirement benefit on your record is a higher amount; your divorced spouse will get a combination of benefits that equals that higher amount.
  
• Your divorced spouse reaches full retirement age and is eligible for a spouse’s benefit and their own, they then have a choice. The choice may involve them delaying their retirement benefits until a later date while opting to receive their spouse’s retirement benefits. This delay has to be applied online and it happens to be advantageous to the divorced spouse because a higher benefit may be received at the set date and this is usually based on the effect of delayed retirement credits
  

• When your former spouse continues to earn a monthly income while receiving benefits, the exact same earning limits will apply to them as they applied to you. If the time for them to receive their retirement benefits come and they are working, the earning test calculator will enable you to see how those earnings will affect those benefit payments. In case they receive a pension based on work not covered by Social Security; such as the Government or foreign work, their Social Security benefit on your record may be affected. So in the event you need to know more about collecting benefits on your divorced spouse’s record, go to the Social Security website at: http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/yourdivspouse.htm  if you cannot apply online, you can apply by phone or in person at any Social Security office.
  

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