Social Security rules are complicated and change often. And keep sending us your Social Security questions. I am afraid you get thousands of emails, but I have received different answers from every person, agency and government office I spoke with regarding my retirement options.

I am hoping you can shed some light on my situation. I was married for more than 10 years to my ex-husband. My physical disabilities persist, but I am hoping to work soon.

It appears that I may be jeopardizing future Social Security benefits by going back to work. Here are my questions:.

I hate this existence and was hoping to earn enough to regain independence and improve my situation. Will I just be making things worse when I must retire? If you earn enough money, you will lose all your disability benefits via the earnings test, but it will likely be worth it in terms of your lifetime income. It may not be! Yours is a pretty complex case.

HOW MUCH INCOME CAN YOU EARN ON SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY?

That said, assuming that she has not yet worked since starting disability benefits, her disability benefits will continue to be paid for at least the first 12 months in which she works, regardless of how much she earns. That includes a nine-month trial work period followed by a three-month grace period.

This is referred to as an extended period of eligibility. By the end of the extended period of eligibility, she will likely be age 66 or very close to it, at which point she will convert to regular Social Security retirement benefits at the same rate as her disability benefits.

From her description of her financial situation, suspending her benefits at that point in order to receive delayed retirement credits would seem to be out of the picture. The immediate question is when to apply for divorced spousal benefits. She should be able to find out the actual amount by contacting Social Security.

Whatever the unreduced amount is, it would be permanently reduced by about 30 percent if she starts drawing her benefits at age Jeanne will be over age 65 long before that, so her Medicare eligibility will continue uninterrupted.

If she remarries, she loses her divorced spousal benefits. Jim — Sherwood, Ark.: My wife and I draw Social Security and are 69 and older. What I would like to know is: How will the changes in the new budget law affect us?

So double check if Social Security knows that you are married. What else can you do? You could suspend your benefits right now and restart them at a higher level starting at age If you just turned 69, it could be close to 8 percent each. Patrick — Forestville, Calif.: I turned 66 in March of this year and my wife will turn 62 in May of Her own Social Security yearly benefit, even at 62, would be more than 50 percent of mine.

My wife plans to continue working. Thanks for any timely advice! We released the new version on Nov. The suggestions the program produced before the update, which you copied in your question, are no longer valid. You need to run the new version of our software that incorporates all the new Social Security provisions. The two of you got badly hurt by the new budget and even though you could file and suspend, doing so will be of no value to your wife in terms of collecting a full spousal benefit off of your work record when she reaches full retirement age and continuing through age And because she is five months too young, you two have lost tens of thousands of dollars in benefits over the two year period.

You can also stock market crash under bush for spousal benefits at that time, but it sounds like neither excess spousal benefit will be positive.

Can I work part time while getting disability?

You are old enough to file a restricted application for spousal benefits only. In theory, at least, your wife could file for retirement insurance benefits at 62, and you could file just for spousal benefits at the same time. Deborah — Chapel Hill, N.

Kotlikoff, I will turn 65 in I married a younger man my real retirement plan — ha ha. He will be 59 next year. I plan to wait until I am 70 to begin collecting Social Security, but I have the lower of our two incomes.

At first glance it seems that both of you will want to wait until 70 to file for your highest retirement benefits, due to your ages and the new law. So if you have a high maximum age of life, you should binomial option pricing calculator online both wait until you are 70 to collect your retirement benefits.

Anonymous — Sachse, Texas: I am 65 and on Social Security Disability Insurance. Would it be better to simply enroll in Social Security at age 66 and then suspend until 70, while working full time if possible that is, if I can locate a suitable job until age 70? Rebecca — Tallahassee, Fla.: My husband died at 38, and we were married 11 years. He was can you earn money on social security disability bread winner of the family.

Can You Work While Receiving Social Security Disability? -- The Motley Fool

What are my options? But benefits you lose due to the earnings test are restored via a bump up in the level of benefits post full retirement age. You definitely want to run yourself though software that handles the earnings test very carefully. So you have a complex problem. Dstv bouquet packages in nigeria need to understand what your total net income will be under different scenarios, including how long you work and how much you earn.

But there are software programs that let you enter your future earnings and will help you answer this question. Vaughn — Fallbrook, Calif.: My wife and I are She has a sparse work history and is unable to work.

We understand that, with the elimination of the file and suspend loophole, she will not be able to receive a spousal benefit until I start receiving benefits at age So the answer to your question is yes.

If she takes her retirement benefit early, it will reduce her total payment once she starts her spousal benefit. Apart from her taking her retirement benefit starting at full retirement age is the question of whether you should wait until 70 to collect your own retirement benefit.

Julie — Sultan, Wash.: I am currently 65 and will turn 66 in August of He is already retired. It now appears that I will not be able to do so as I will not reach full retirement age before the day limit on file and suspend.

Is can you earn money on social security disability any way to get around this? I have good news for you. Filing and suspending is irrelevant in this case. Fortunately for you, because you were born beforeyou anyoption binary options review traders uk able to file cnc programmer work at home a restricted application at 66 your full retirement age.

Moreover, you can switch to your own retirement benefit stock broker agencies 70 if it is larger than your divorced spousal benefit at that time.

I am 55 and a teacher in Texas. This is a second career, and I paid into Social Security for over 12 years. My husband is 69 and already retired. He has started drawing his full Social Security benefit. Then, I would wait until I reached 70 to apply for my own. If I could apply for his Social Security, would it be subject to both the windfall elimination and the government pension offset provisions?

What would happen to my benefit if he dies? This is a very confusing issue! Your husband should, I think, wait until 70 to collect his retirement benefit. You may also want to consider working outside the uncovered state teachers system so that you can earn more years of covered service and potentiall, significantly raise your retirement benefit before it gets crunched by the windfall elimination provision.

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Here are my questions: Can I collect on my former spouse, or should I wait until full retirement age? Do I have to keep Medicare if I get group coverage through work? Should I only work part time? How would all this be affected if I remarry? Any advice would be sincerely appreciated. I file for retirement benefits in Februarythe year I turn My wife files for spousal benefits in Maythe year she turns My wife files for retirement benefits in Maythe year she turns Laurence Kotlikoff is a William Fairfield Warren Professor at Boston University, a Professor of Economics at Boston University, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, President of Economic Security Planning, Inc.

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