Social Security Survivor Benefits- The Thing Women Should Learn About
When Social Security was launched back in 1935 it was typical for women to stay home to raise the family. In most families the husband was the major earner or the only earner in the household. Additionally, women statistically outlive men, especially if the wife is younger compared to the husband.
The coincidence of lower or no earnings and a longer life span meant many women found themselves in poverty at the time their husbands expired, as their husband's Social Security retirement benefits ended at their death. The Social Security Board recognized the issues that women face and have adopted several adjustments to the system over the years to account for these needs.
One of the first amendments to the Social Security system was to permit women to apply for benefits at 62 instead of waiting until 65 under the assumption that they were younger than their husbands and that they would like to retire simultaneously.
Then in 1939 two new categories of benefits were added: Social Security survivor benefits and dependent benefits (payable to the spouse and minor kids of retired employees).
These changes transformed Social Security from a retirement program that only paid benefits to retired employees into a family-based system, where spouses and children could receive benefits of retired, disabled or deceased workers. This was a tremendous help to women who were not eligible for retirement benefits on their own, or who had much smaller benefits than their spouses.
Today, although it's not unusual for women to earn as much or greater than their spouses, they still may take time off to raise families, and they still statistically live longer than their spouses. Similarly, the number of divorced women attaining retirement age is greater than it has ever been. Because of this, a number of women still get Social Security spousal benefits or survivor benefits instead of benefits based on their own work period.
This is why it's essential for women - no matter what their marital status is - to learn the spousal and survivor benefits open to them in addition to the retirement benefits so they can get the maximum benefits they are eligible to.
Social Security Eligibility Rules: Can A Full-Time Housewife Collect Social Security? When Social Security was first established, most families only had one bread-earner, and only the working spouse qualified for retirement benefits. This caused financial difficulties for the spouse who didn't work (and therefore didn't qualify for Social Security) if the working spouse passed away first.
A Few Key Points Which You Need To Know About Social Security Spouse Benefits When most people think about Social Security, they naturally think of retirement benefits. However about 1/5 of all Social Security benefits are spousal or survivor benefits, so when you're planning for retirement, it's important to consider the fact that you or your spouse may collect Social Security survivor benefits
How Social Security Spousal Benefits Work Can a spouse collect on her husband's social security if she reaches retirement age before her husband? No. In order for a wife to collect Social Security benefits on her husband's earnings the following requirements must be met:
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