Retirement discussion

[DannyW]

I strongly recommend that anyone planning to retire and start taking SS benefits talk to a representative at SS ahead of time.
When I retired in 2020 you couldn’t have a face to face meeting due to Covid. It was all by phone. I feel like I would have been more informed by an in person meeting.

There are all sorts of variables with SS benefits.

It’s a fact that a person can collect the SS benefits of a former spouse, living or deceased. In some cases the former spouse’s amount is greater amount than theirs.

Good advice.

Just to clarify your last paragraph...a person can collect the SS of a former spouse, but they can't collect BOTH the former spouse's SS and their own SS. You have to declare which one you want to collect.

Hope that's not considered calling out a moderator on the open forum.

 

[Milkman]

Good advice.

Just to clarify your last paragraph...a person can collect the SS of a former spouse, but they can't collect BOTH the former spouse's SS and their own SS. You have to declare which one you want to collect.

Hope that's not considered calling out a moderator on the open forum.

True.
You can collect either/or. Whichever is the most would determine that.