Let’s say you’re a person who has been paying into social security your whole life but you never married or had children. You die before reaching the age to collect social security. Who gets the money that you paid for? The answer is nobody, they just keep it. Let’s say your spouse dies before you and your children are grown. Who gets your benefits when you die? The answer is nobody, they just keep it. I have a friend that lost her husband when she was 58 years old and her children were grown. She had to wait until she turned 60 before she could start collecting his benefits. She is now collecting his benefits but still having to work because it’s not enough for her to survive on. She is having to pay into social security for her current job but she will never collect one penny from the money she is currently paying for because she is only allowed to collect on either her husband’s or her own but not both. Why? Didn’t both husband and wife pay into social security? Why shouldn’t she be able to collect from both? The only way a couple can collect from both is to collect it while both are still alive. We become eligible at the age of 62 but we are encouraged to wait until we are 67 because we will collect more each month. However, is it really more? If we wait until we are 67, how much have we collected by the time we are 67? The answer is “0” and we have missed out on 5 years of benefits that we could have already received. I believe they are playing the odds in hope that people will die before they collect. None of us have control or know when we will die. How many people do you think die between the age of 62-67 while waiting and never collect any money they have paid for? I have done the math and it’s astonishing. In addition to all of this, they are also collecting from illegal aliens that are using fake social security numbers that will never and should never collect any benefits. With the technology that exists today there is no excuse for the system they use to not be programmed to immediately create an alert the moment a duplicate ss# is being used. Some people will argue that it’s not the social security administration’s job to do this but it’s the employer’s responsibility to verify each applicant by using e-verify before they hire. However, E-Verify is not being enforced as a law to all employers in the country. It varies from state to state so only honest employers use it while corrupt employers that live in a state that is not enforcing it continue to hire illegals because they know they can get away with it. Every time this has been attempted to make it a law nationwide, it has not passed. Here is a good article that shows how E-Verify is not being enforced.
The truth is that social security has been collecting billions for decades from people that they will never pay benefits to. No one can convince me that they are paying out more benefits than what they collect. Yet, they have the nerve to tell us that social security is going broke and I’ve been hearing that my whole life.
I certainly agree that no one should be relying on just social security for their retirement. It’s unfortunate for my friend that her husband did not leave her enough life insurance. He died of cancer so all the money she had was exhausted in medical bills and funeral expenses. She had no other choice other than to take it as soon as she could in addition to working and continuing to having social security taken from her current paychecks. I don’t understand how she will ever benefit from what is currently coming out of her paychecks. You mentioned that money she is earning will go towards an increase in her benefits but I don’t understand this since she will never be collecting from her own. She will always have to rely on her husband’s because she will never surpass the amount that he paid in. He was the main bread winner and she was a stay at home Mom for most of their married life. If there is something I am missing here? I would love to hear how that would work.
Awww. You are right. Didn't realize she was collecting his. No health insurance, insufficient life insurance and no private retirement or 401k is a mess. And no assets is assuredly limiting. I am very sorry for her.
If she was a stay at home mom for years the calculation for her own social security benefits will be lower because they are a calculated average of 20 years paid in. If she recently had to return to work given her circumstances, that will not be enough of a 20 average for her to gain anything. My mother had to return to work after my father passed. After she retired she collected on my father's social security because hers was not enough.
Both spouses will receive the benefit of the higher paid spouse if one dies. I stayed home with my kids. If he goes first, I will receive the amount of his check. If I go first, he gets nothing.