Kiplinger’s Retirement Report

Mary Ann

Kiplinger’s Retirement Report

Occasionally, the universe rewards you with an unexpected gift, and that gift for me came via the Kiplinger’s Retirement Report.  This monthly newsletter is worth every penny of its subscription price. The newsletter is filled with valuable information about government actions regarding Social Security, Medicare, and other policies that affect your life. It has investment advice, information where to retire in the US or internationally, tax updates, consumer guidance, travel info, and on and on. 

My gift was finding a nugget of information in one of their Social Security articles.  Divorced people who were married for 10 years or more, older than 62, and have not remarried could claim Social Security against the former spouse’s benefits.  You must be divorced for at least two years, and the ex-spouse must be eligible to collect Social Security. You can collect half of the ex-spouse’s benefit, and if the ex-spouse is deceased, you can collect the full amount of the benefit.

I may have read this in the past, but it had not registered.  Social Security certainly is not going to contact you about this option.  As soon as I read the article, I made an appointment at the Social Security Office to see if it was indeed true.  It was, and I could collect the benefit.  Later, when I turned 70, my own Social Security kicked in. I was able to share this information with one of my colleagues at work who was in the exact situation as I was, and her former husband had passed so she got the entire benefit.  This gift from the universe allowed me to buy a house prior to retiring, and it allowed my colleague to retire earlier.  We both collected our Social Security at 70 getting the maximum benefit and preventing two little old ladies from becoming bag ladies.   

I think of all the women (and men) who did not know about this benefit and missed out on the extra money.  It may have made all the difference in the lives of those eligible people.  It does not affect the former spouse at all, and the former spouse would never even know this is occurring.  However, you still must pay taxes on the funds.  You must meet the criteria for the claim. Always check with Social Security. The Social Security website post all the details in the Divorced Spouse Benefit section.  In the end, it allows you to build you own future Social Security by delaying claiming it earlier.   So, all I can say is thank you Kiplinger, thank you universe!