The Social Security income projection seems off. Why?
Be sure to indicate that the amount you enter is “per month” or “per year,” as appropriate for your case. If you entered a monthly amount, but the program is treating it as “per year,” it will be insignificant in the charts. Also: If the client won’t be age 62 (or 67 or whatever retirement […]
What if a spouse is going to take half the other spouse’s social security?
The software only allows a spouse to enter his or her own Social Security. To enter a situation where Party B is taking half of Party A’s Social Security, please do the following: 1. On Client Info > Income & Expenses > Wage-Like Income, find the line for Social Security income and click “more info”. […]
How do I handle derivative social security benefits?
There are two categories of Social Security benefits received by children. 1. Social Security payments based on the parent’s status. The parent must be disabled (the usual case); or retired and entitled to Social Security; or a parent who died after working long enough at a job where he paid Social Security taxes. The child […]
Can we value Social Security as a defined benefit pension?
Yes, we can. Conceptually, there is no difference between Social Security and a defined benefit pension. Both are a stream of payments that may increase with inflation, begin at a certain age, and continue until the recipient dies. Both may have annual increases. For Social Security, this is the annual inflation adjustment. For defined benefit […]
How can we negotiate divorced spouse benefits under current Social Security rules?
Under Social Security rules as amended in November, 2015, a divorced spouse may not claim divorced spouse benefits unless the worker spouse is also claiming benefits. (The divorced spouse benefit is 50% of the worker spouse’s benefit, and applies only if the parties have been married for 10 years or more, the divorced spouse is […]