Social Security and Medicare Education

0:06 - Good morning. My name is Betty Thomas. I am a senior administrator for the University of Michigan 0:12 out of the Benefits Office and we're gonna go ahead and get started with today's presentation. It is nine o'clock. 0:18 I would like to take the opportunity to introduce Kimberly Turner Zorn who is a technical expert 0:27 in the Retirement, Disabilities and Survivors and Medicare Department in the Ann Arbor Office. 0:32 Please welcome Kimberly. (group applauds) 0:42 - Good morning and thank you for the warm welcome. It's my pleasure to be here again today. We've had a wonderful partnership here with U of M 0:49 and providing information that you may need as you go forward in order to file for retirement and Medicare. 0:55 So thank you again for inviting us to be here with you today. We'll have time for question and answers at the end. 1:01 I am happy to answer absolutely as many questions as I possibly can. I am in the Ann Arbor Office. 1:08 It's a wonderful office. You're very fortunate to have us with you. It's a very caring office and very technically advanced, 1:17 I would say, in I guess, in knowledge base and so my job for my department is to be 1:24 the technical person if we run into an unusual case or a case that we can't get to process. 1:29 If we're concerned about the laws, I'm the person that they come to to make sure that we understand how to appropriately 1:35 pay you your benefits. We're one of the only agencies that I know of who exist to pay you money and not only to pay you money 1:43 but to look and see is there any other money that we can pay you? That's part of our responsibility 1:49 and we do that happily for you. We're gonna start out this morning with Medicare. 1:54 It's a big topic and everybody has Medicare questions. The first thing I would say is that please be aware 2:00 that social security is not Medicare. We are separate Federal agencies. We are contracted, however, to help you enroll 2:08 and disability-enroll from Medicare A and B. 2:13 Medicare C and D, you would enroll with another company. As Michigan Medicine U of M employees, 2:20 you more than likely will not need Medicare C and D. So when you see all of those ads on television 2:26 that tell you, hurry up, you're gonna miss the deadline, try not to panic. You can always make a call to the Benefits Office 2:33 but if you're a retiree, my understanding is that most retirees here will have something that will be equal to or better 2:40 than what Medicare C or D will plan for you. 2:45 Anyone age 65 or older can qualify for Medicare. If you are on social security disability 2:52 and are receiving monthly benefits from us, you will qualify for Medicare at an earlier age. 2:58 You would have to receive disability for 24 months prior to being entitled to Medicare A and B. 3:05 We automatically enroll you if you are on disability and you don't have to come into the office to do that. 3:12 If you have ALS or if you have End-Stage Renal Disease 3:17 and also this exposure to environmental health hazards, I'm not, that's not something I've ever seen 3:23 but it's a possibility, we can get you Medicare much sooner. If you have ALS or End-Stage Renal, 3:30 you can get Medicare beginning with the month you first become entitled to disability benefits. 3:36 If, however, you are continuing to work and you have End-Stage Renal and are able to manage 3:42 your dialysis and continue to work, we can just get you Medicare based on your dialysis 3:48 or possible kidney transplant. You do not have to receive money from us, disability money, retirement money, 3:54 in order to have the Medicare coverage, if you have End-Stage Renal Disease. 4:01 Signing up for Medicare Part B sounds scary. It's actually easier than you think it is. 4:07 The initial enrollment period is the month you are 65, three months before and three months after. 4:18 If you are still working and you have full medical coverage through your current employment, you do not have to enroll for Medicare A and B. 4:26 Here at U of M, we do have retirees or workers who are still working and they want their Part A. 4:33 Medicare Part A is inpatient hospitalization coverage. It would be supplemental to the coverage 4:39 that you have through your employment here. You don't need your Part B at that point 4:45 if you're still currently employed. So we'll answer questions about that 'cause I see some puzzled faces. 4:50 I'm gonna answer some questions about that at the end. There is another enrollment period called a special enrollment period 4:55 and this may answer some questions. If you continue to work after age 65, you are currently employed and I'm gonna emphasize 5:02 currently employed 'cause that's what the Medicare law says, you can delay filing for your Medicare Part B 5:09 as long as you are still currently employed, have full medical coverage through that employer 5:15 and there are more than 20 employees, then Medicare would be secondary payer 5:20 and you can delay filing for Part B. You can delay filing for Part A as well but if you want Part A, 5:26 it is free if you have paid in your 40 credits and so you can have that Part A if you want to 5:33 while you are working. If, for some reason, you miss your special enrollment period, 5:39 there is something called a general enrollment period. So if there has been some confusion and you did not file timely at the time of your retirement 5:47 or separation from your employment, we can enroll you in January, February, 5:52 or March of every year but your coverage does not begin until July of that year, July 1st. 5:59 Medicare coverage always begins on the first of a particular month. 6:05 The month you come to see us or you file online for your Medicare, 6:10 determines the month your coverage begins. I like to tell people, if you know a month ahead of time 6:16 when you're going to retire, talk to us or go online and let's do your Medicare application at that point. 6:25 The earlier you file, the more choice you have on when your Medicare coverage begins and so I want everyone to have that potential 6:32 for receiving their Medicare benefits at the exact time that they need it. 6:38 If you fall under that special enrollment period, there's going to be a form that you fill out as well as 6:45 one the university will fill out. Those are available on our website and the people here 6:52 in the Benefits Office are excellent at completing that. I have met some of the ladies who do that here 6:58 and we have a great understanding. They fill them out perfectly. When you come into our office or mail them in, 7:04 we know exactly how to get you enrolled on time. So you can have great confidence in your Benefits Department in that way. 7:11 Medicare has four parts. We deal with A and B. Probably you will only be dealing with A and B. 7:17 I can't predict that in its entirety but more than likely you'll only need A and B. 7:22 Part A is your inpatient hospital coverage. There is no monthly premium for you to pay 7:28 if you have paid in sufficiently throughout your working career. If you receive retirement, it's 40 credits. 7:36 To receive free Medicare Part A, it's 40 credits. So basically 10 years of solid work 7:42 gives you your 40 credits. Hospital expenses might include a semi-private room, 7:48 your meals, some general nursing care, hospital services and supplies. 7:54 There is a deductible. This year in 2017, the Part A deductible is $1,316. 8:04 Medicare Part B covers the things that you most often use. 8:10 So medical visits to your doctors, medical tests, outpatient expenses, after the first $183 in approved charges. 8:20 The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B this year is $134 per person per month. 8:33 If you, I did talk about disability a little bit. What is important to remember and I do have questions 8:38 about this pretty frequently, if you are separated or someone you know is separating from a job and they are being offered COBRA coverage, 8:47 COBRA coverage is really great for you, if that works for you, but it does not negate the enrollment period for Medicare. 8:57 You must contact us about Medicare because your enrollment period is ticking along 9:04 and Medicare does not count COBRA as the kind of coverage you need to keep you going. 9:11 So that's something if you are leaving your job or your loved one is leaving their job and they have COBRA, still contact us about Medicare if they are 65 or older. 9:27 Part C we're just gonna go over very basic information because I don't think you're gonna need it but it may help some of you or some family members. 9:35 Medicare Part C helps cover what A and B do not cover. 9:40 You enroll through Medicare Part C through an insurance company 9:45 and you pay a monthly premium for that. It helps cover things like those deductibles and co-pays 9:51 that Medicare A and B don't cover. One point I will make is that when you hear 9:57 about Medicare Part C, you're only going to hear about it advertised as advantage plan, an advantage plan. 10:03 There are other ways to enroll. It's called traditional Medigap. So you would want to be very aware about what kind 10:11 of coverage you are enrolling for. Advantage is basically, not a PPO, what is the other one? 10:20 I'm sorry, I'm blanking out. (laughs) - [Female] An HMO? - An HMO, thank you very much, and so you have to use the network, 10:26 you have to use in-network doctors, that kind of thing. Buying a traditional Medigap plan is like buying I say, 10:33 a la carte. You pick and choose what you want. You may pay a slightly higher monthly premium 10:38 but you may have better coverage. If you live in two states or your loved one lives in two states and travels, 10:45 for instance my parents would travel every winter to Florida, the advantage plan did not work for my parents. 10:51 They had to have a traditional Medigap so they could go anywhere in the United States they wanted to go where Medicare was accepted. 10:57 Part D, again, you may never have to use. That is always drug coverage, so your prescription drug coverage. 11:04 Most retirees, my understanding from the U and Michigan Medicine, you will not need Medicare C or D 11:10 but there are monthly premiums. If your loved one needs to enroll in Part D, 11:15 they're going to contact an insurance company to do that and they will pay a monthly premium. 11:24 There, it was a law passed in 2006 that says some people may pay a higher monthly premium 11:29 for Medicare Part B. That $134 a month that I mention for Medicare Part B premium 11:36 represents 25% of the total cost of your Medicare Part B 11:42 and the Federal government pays the other 75%. So in 2006 Congress passed a new law that said 11:49 for certain people with higher income levels, the government was going to require them to pay 11:55 a higher percentage than that standard 25% and so based on your modified adjusted gross income, 12:03 you may end up paying slightly more than that $134 per month. Now there are not ways around it 12:11 but there are exceptions to that. If you have experienced a life changing event, like retirement or death of a spouse or divorce, 12:20 and you have had a significant decrease since retirement in your modified adjusted gross income, 12:27 then we may be able to reduce you back to that standard $134 a month premium. 12:34 Try not to worry about it ahead of time. If it happens, Medicare will send you a letter and let you know 12:40 and I think the best way is then to ask questions. If you have any questions about it, come and talk to us. 12:47 Giving proof that your income has reduced is a fairly easy thing to do. 12:53 It's something we do on a regular basis. There is extra help with Medicare prescription drug costs 13:00 and again I'll mention this in case you have a loved one who is struggling with their prescription drug costs 13:06 and their premiums. Our agency does help some with low income pay 13:13 for their Part D coverage and their co-pays. That application is available online or in our office 13:20 and it can be of help to someone who does not have great medical coverage in retirement, 13:25 someone who is elderly. My father is a Ford retiree and in 2008, 13:31 he lost all of his medical coverage and so we had to work toward getting him all kinds of new coverage, 13:38 he and my mother. He was very fortunate to be able to afford his coverage but there are others that he knew over the years 13:44 that were struggling with that. Some of our most senior seniors don't receive as high a benefit 13:51 and so they have a hard time with that and we can help with that as well and that's what this, it's called extra help, 13:58 and it can be worth up to $4,000 per year. So it is quite helpful for some. 14:04 How do you qualify for retirement benefits? I touched on this just a moment ago. You need to work and earn credits. 14:13 You can earn four credits per year and in 2017, you need to earn $1,300 to earn one credit. 14:23 You can earn a maximum of four credits per year. So in 2017 for example, to get all four credits for this year, 14:30 you have to earn at least $5,200, 1,300 times four. 14:36 No big secret. Earning 40 credits, or 10 years of work throughout your working life, will qualify you for retirement benefit. 14:46 Deciding what is the right time to retire is a very personal decision. When I started with our agency 12 years ago, 14:53 we did a lot more in the advice business. We would figure out your break even point 15:00 and tell you what we thought was the best time to retire and if you didn't do it then, 15:06 we had to document that I had had this discussion with you and you had declined but life has changed a lot 15:13 in the last 12 years. Life expectancy has changed. Our economy has changed. Who works and who doesn't work has changed a great deal. 15:21 We don't give advice anymore. We don't even provide a break even point for you anymore. You have a lot of things to think about 15:28 when you are getting ready to retire. One of the most important things to do is to go online 15:34 and check your retirement statement. This is the statement we used to mail to you every year 15:40 about two or three months before your birthday. We don't mail those out anymore unless you're over age 60 15:45 and have not signed up for an online account. So if you have received one this year, 15:51 that means you didn't go online and sign up for a my social security account. 15:57 We have to think about Medicare and Medicare costs. So whatever benefit you receive at retirement, we're gonna take out that monthly Medicare Part B premium. 16:04 You have to think about that and you have to think about your tax considerations. Do you have a spouse who is working? 16:11 What tax bracket are you going to be in? How will that change or will that change if you have 16:17 social security money coming to you as well. Going online is one of our better ways really 16:25 to file for retirement and I promise you it's not hard. When you do it online at www.socialsecurity.gov, 16:33 make sure .gov is always there, it goes to a person like me in an actual office 16:39 who reviews your application, pulls it in and if they need anything, they'll call you or they'll send you a letter. 16:46 They may even email you if you have provided your email address and any proof that we need, 16:51 we will request or any clarification that we need, we will request. Right now in the state of Michigan, 16:57 online retirement applications are going to a specialized office in Seattle. 17:04 We can call Seattle if you ever need us to. It's not forever gone but you will have your claim 17:10 viewed, reviewed, and questioned, and thoroughly dissected 17:15 before you go into pay but if you get a call from Seattle, you'll know why. 17:20 It's legitimate. It's one of my co-workers on the other side of the country trying to help you get your entitlement at the right time. 17:29 If you decide to retire at age 62, what we call early retirement, anything before full retirement age 17:36 we generally call early retirement, you're going to receive a lower monthly payment. At full retirement age you receive 17:44 your full monthly benefit amount. If you wait until after full retirement age, 17:50 we're going to increase your payment to the tune of 8% per year. So if you are in good health and you have a job 17:58 that you love and you're not ready to retire yet, you don't have to. You can keep working and let your social security money grow 18:06 until you are ready to take it. Do not wait until after age 70. 18:11 Your benefit will not increase any more after age 70. If you wait longer than that then we would consider you 18:18 to be losing money and we don't want you to do that. 18:23 Full retirement age has changed in the last few years. If you were born from 1943 to 1954, 18:33 if you take your benefit early at age 62, you're gonna receive 75% of your benefit, 18:39 age 66, 100%, age 70, 132%. 18:46 Full retirement age has changed for anybody born after 1960. It has increased to age 67. 18:53 62, 65, 66, these are not the only times that you can retire. 18:59 You can retire at any time any of those years and we will calculate the number of months 19:06 you took your benefit early and we will appropriately reduce your monthly benefit. 19:11 So you can retire in any month that you meet the working and earning requirements. Some people have that mistaken idea that they gotta do it 19:19 at 62 or at 63 or at 64. It can happen during any time. 19:25 In addition to a retiree, other people in your home may be able to receive benefits. If you have a child who is not married and under age 18, 19:34 they may qualify for student benefits. If you have a child who is over 18, 19:39 up to 19 years and two months old, still in high school, we're gonna be able to pay that child as well. 19:47 If you have a child who is unmarried and disabled before age 22, we would like to take an application for disability 19:54 for that child and if approved, they can receive money on your earnings record as well. 20:01 Your spouse who has reached age 62 or older can receive from your record or a spouse of any age 20:07 who is caring for your child who is under age 16. That spouse would not receive a reduced benefit 20:16 for being younger than 62. They would receive a full spousal benefit. 20:24 A former spouse can receive benefits from your record. The marriage must've lasted 10 years prior to divorce. 20:30 Your former spouse has to be age 62 or older and if you have been divorced at least two years 20:39 and you and your former spouse are at least 62 years old, your ex-spouse can actually draw on your record 20:47 before you file on your own record but you have to be 62, had to have been married 10 years prior to divorce, 20:53 and have to be divorced for two years. What's important to know is that your ex-wife 20:59 or your ex-husband's benefit will not affect your benefit nor will it affect your child if you have a child 21:06 on the record nor will it affect a current spousal benefit. A former spouse calculation is done completely outside 21:14 of your family amount for you, your current spouse, and any children. 21:23 Survivors benefits work in much the same way as retirement benefits and again, your child if unmarried, 21:29 in high school under age 19 and two months can receive a student benefit or a child not married and disabled 21:36 before the age of 22. A widow or widower does receive benefits or can receive benefits on your record. 21:43 If they wait until their own full retirement age, they would receive a full benefit. 21:49 You can receive a reduced widow or widower's benefit as early as age 60. 21:55 If your spouse is disabled and we find them so under our rules medically disabled, they can receive a benefit on your record 22:03 as early as age 50. So between 50 and 59, you can receive a widow or widower's benefit 22:09 if we find you disabled according to our rules. Regular widows would begin at age 60, 22:15 again, at any age if your widow or widower is caring for your child under 16 or disabled. 22:22 Remarriage after age 60 if you are receiving a benefit 22:28 on a spousal record and that spouse passes, if you, so this is always a challenging thing to explain. 22:39 You can receive a benefit, you can continue to receive that benefit as a widow or widower even if you remarry 22:44 if you remarry after age 60. 22:50 So if you're not on your spouse's record and they pass and then you remarry and you're currently married 22:56 to a second spouse, I can't pay you on that widow's benefit 23:01 but if you were on it and then you remarry after 60, I can. If you were disabled and you're receiving 23:07 as a disabled widow, you'd have to remarry after age 50 and again divorced widows and widowers may qualify. 23:16 At full retirement age, you can receive 100% of the deceased workers 23:21 unreduced benefit. At age 60, as an example, we're gonna pay a reduced amount 23:27 and that is 71.5% of the deceased worker's full amount. 23:33 Unreduced benefit gets confusing. You can receive a reduced benefit on one record at age 60 and then on another record unreduced at a later age. 23:45 Full benefits to both widow or widower and a divorced widow or widower because the former spouse 23:50 is calculated without regard to the spouse you were married to when you passed. 23:57 Bullet point three gets a little confusing. There are times when you as a widow or widower 24:02 might like to draw, you might like to retire early and you might like to draw 24:08 a benefit from us. You can do that as early as age 60 if you are working under the earnings limit 24:14 and you can then leave your own benefit to grow and it can grow as high as you want up until age 70. 24:21 So I could start you on a widow's benefit today at age 60 if you're under the working limit 24:26 and you could just receive that along and let your own keep growing and growing and growing and growing 24:32 and when your own exceeds what you receive, I can take you off of widows, take a new application, 24:37 and put you on your own benefit. It happens pretty commonly. 24:42 It's something we do all the time but you have to remember that we do have that earnings limit just as if you were taking early retirement, 24:49 early widows has an earnings limit and we'll talk about that. 24:57 Other Survivor benefits include parent benefits. Now this doesn't happen very often. 25:02 In 12 years, I've only seen it twice but it is there. If the person who passes, 25:09 the deceased worker had a parent for whom they were financially providing more than 50% 25:14 of their support, I may be able to pay that parent a monthly benefit (coughs). 25:21 Excuse me. There is a one time lump sum death benefit also when a spouse passes away 25:27 that will not automatically come to you. You do need to file for that benefit. It is the same amount that it's been 25:35 for the last 30 or 35 years. I don't have any indication that it may change. So if you are 52 and your spouse dies, 25:43 you're not old enough for a widow's benefit yet but I can take an application and pay you that one time payment of $255. 25:55 Going online to social security is a great way to protect your record. 26:01 It's also a great way for you to access information that you might otherwise have had to call the 800 number 26:07 or come into the office and see us about. You set up your own personal individual account 26:14 with our agency and our website and you can look at your own statement. 26:20 Since we're not mailing them out anymore, you can look at your statement online and you can print it out for your own files. 26:26 It's easy to use and it's gonna stay very updated. 26:32 In order to get one of these accounts started, you have to be at least 18 years old, have a valid email address, a social security number, 26:40 and a US mailing address. We are encouraging young people who are in the workforce 26:47 to create especially one of these accounts because they're not going to ever get a statement mailed to them. 26:53 The expenses of printing and mailing those statements is just pretty incredible 26:59 and the budget does not allow for that anymore. So if you've got a young person in your family, 27:04 encourage them to go online at socialsecurity.gov. Always, please I can't stress enough to use .gov. 27:11 There are unethical people out there in the world who create websites that look like ours and I don't ever want you to use or be fooled 27:19 by a website that looks like ours and is not. If you do not currently get benefits and you do sign up 27:26 for my social security online, you can request a replacement social security card. You don't have to come into the office. 27:32 Michigan was one of the pilot states for this program and it's going very well. They've extended it to several other states as well. 27:39 If you go on and you have trouble with it, you can always come and visit us. Your record has to be in really tip top shape 27:47 for this to go through but it's always worth a try before coming in. You can review estimates of your future retirement 27:52 and disability benefits and estimate your spousal benefits if you're concerned 28:02 about a spouse who may not be working, verify your lifetime earnings, review your social security and Medicare taxes 28:09 that you've paid in and just get more information about signing up for benefits. 28:15 If you're already receiving social security benefits, again, you can request a replacement social security card, check your benefit and payment information, 28:22 change your address and phone number, start or change your own direct deposit information, 28:29 request a replacement Medicare card and get a replacement SSA-1099 which is the form you get to use to file your taxes 28:38 at the end of the year. One of the other reasons that I personally am recommending 28:44 a My SSA account online is for security. We all know that there's a great deal of identity theft 28:50 going on right now and we work very hard to prevent that. We have great security systems in place for our online systems but if someone has stolen 28:58 your identity and this has been in the news very recently in the last couple of weeks, they may have enough information to go online 29:05 and sign up for your benefit. If you sign up for my SSA online, 29:11 they can't get in and do it for you. So as a security feature, 29:17 I'm recommending to everybody in my family that they go online and set it up themselves 29:22 so that nobody else can get in and access your information or file a claim or get a social security card for you. 29:30 We're gonna take some questions at the end, thank you. We had a change in the legislation that was effective 29:39 in 2016 and it's called deemed filing. 29:45 That's a complicated thing but basically if you're eligible for benefits both as a retiree and a spouse 29:52 or a divorced spouse, you're gonna have to file for both benefits at the same time. 29:58 If you're under full retirement age is how it's always been, now we say it's at any age. 30:06 So that's where the legislation changed. So if you have reached age 62 after January 1st of 2016, 30:13 the new rules apply. That means if you were born before January 2, 1954, 30:20 old rules apply. If you were born after January 2, 1954, 30:25 the new rules will apply. Some of you may be familiar with people who reached full retirement age 30:33 and instead of taking their own benefit amount, filed to receive half of their spouse's benefit 30:39 even though they were eligible for their own. That was an unintended consequence of subsequent legislation 30:45 in Congress over the years and a financial planner found that out, figured it out, found the loophole, 30:51 and then made a fortune promoting that loophole. It was not what social security was about. 30:57 It was not the reason that social security was created and so Congress did close that loophole 31:02 and it was effective last year. This also affects voluntary suspension. 31:09 The change, let's talk about it, if you take your retirement benefit and then ask us 31:15 to suspend your record and not pay you so you can acquire 31:20 delayed retirement credits, which means waiting and increasing that amount, 31:26 that monthly amount 8% per year, your spouse or any children or divorced spouses 31:32 will not be able to receive benefits while you're in suspense. 31:38 Prior to the legal change, you could suspend yours and your wife could still draw or your child could still draw. 31:45 We have closed that loophole. Some people that were on it before, that will continue. 31:50 That will not change if you were grandfathered in. That's how it is. If you fell after that date of birth then you're gonna be 31:57 under the new rules. This is a chart of full retirement age, year of birth, 32:03 full retirement age. If you were born in 1937 or earlier, your full retirement age was 65, 1938 on, 32:11 that increased by two months for each subsequent year. If you were born between 1943 and 1954, 32:19 full retirement age is a straight 66. Each year after that it goes up two months. 32:25 So if you were born in 1956, your full retirement age is 66 and four months. For those born after 1960, 32:33 full retirement age has been raised to 67. So just thinking about that, 32:38 if full retirement age was 65, years ago, and early retirement age was 62, 32:45 you only had a three year reduction in your benefits but if your full retirement age is 67 like mine 32:51 and I take my benefit at 62, I'm gonna see a five year reduction. 32:57 So it's an encouragement to continue working after age 62 unless you are independently wealthy which most of us 33:03 in the world are not. It's an encouragement to keep working. If you've got a good job and you're in good health, 33:09 keep paying in and give yourself some more security in your retirement years. 33:17 Your social security monthly benefit is based on your earnings, each individual's earnings. 33:22 There is no blanket amount of money that everybody gets or doesn't get. I'm going to look at every single worker's money paid in 33:32 and we perform a calculation based on that. At the very first step in our computations, 33:39 we adjust your, we adjust for changes in wage levels, let's put it that way. 33:44 We find the monthly average of your 35 highest years of earnings. 33:50 Lots of people think it's your highest five or it's some magical five years or three years 33:56 that we pick out and that's not how it works. We are literally looking at your 35 highest out of 40 years of earnings and at step three then, 34:04 what we figure out is an average indexed monthly earning amount. 34:11 So this is gonna give you a quick example of how we do that. If your average monthly earnings are, for instance, $5,500, 34:18 your monthly benefit would be $2,197 and here's how we do that. 34:24 We take 90% of the first $856 you earn, 34:29 that's $770. Next we take 32% of your earnings over $856 through 5,157. 34:44 That 5,157 is, we subtract here with that 856, I'm sorry, 34:51 and you get that 4301. So we take 30% of the 4301 which is 1376 34:58 and then finally at step three we take 15% of your earnings over 5,157 which is $51. 35:07 We total that up in the right column and you see a monthly benefit of 2,197 35:13 and keep in mind that that is before Medicare and that's before taxes. 35:18 You can be taxed on your social security income. When you add that to your other sources of income 35:25 on your IRS filing, your 1040, there's a possibility that you could be taxed on your social security monies 35:34 and that comes in somewhere, for a married couple filing jointly, that's around $34,000 in total income. 35:40 For a single, it's right around $25,000 in total income. 35:46 We compute a spouse's monthly amount as 50% 35:51 of the worker's unreduced benefit. 35:56 That's where we start. If you take it early, we're gonna reduce it a little more, 36:02 so reduction for early retirement. If the spouse's own benefit is less than 50% 36:08 of the worker's benefit, the benefits are combined. Let me explain that. 36:13 So say you have, and I'm gonna use a traditional example, please forgive me, I'm not prejudiced in any way, 36:19 this is one of our more typical examples. So the husband's full retirement age amount is $2,000. 36:28 The original potential benefit that I start with is half of that for the spouse which would be $1,000. 36:35 Now this wife has worked and earned and paid in and has the 40 credits but their own benefit is pretty small 36:43 because maybe she stayed home and raised kids or whatever 36:48 and so that benefit is only maybe $400 a month. 36:53 So that benefit is lower than half of that spousal benefit of $1,000. 37:01 So I'm gonna take the wife's application on her own. Then I'm gonna take a spousal application 37:08 and I'm going to combine the two amounts into one payment for the spouse. 37:13 You can't have all of yours and all of the spousal benefit, 37:19 that $1,000. I have to subtract your $300 from that 1,000. 37:24 It gets complicated but we do it all day so you don't have to worry. You're in good hands if you come to see us 37:29 but we want to pay you the most you can get. If I only pay you on your record, you're not getting as much as you're due. 37:36 I wanna take the spouse's application and give you some of that money too and combine it. 37:44 We do have a retirement estimator on our website which is very handy. 37:50 It's convenient, it's secure, and it gives you a quick financial planning tool. 37:56 Very often if you go to a financial planner, they're gonna ask you to go online and do this estimator so that they have an idea of what to expect 38:04 when you're coming into their office. How much are you gonna get from social security? We're one piece of your retirement income, one portion, 38:14 and then you need to look at pensions and any other kind of investments that you have. 38:19 Our estimator is quite accurate. It may not be at the exact dollar but in some cases 38:25 it is that accurate. It let's you come up with different scenarios. So you can say well, if I try it at age 64 1/2, 38:34 what will I get? If I want it at age 62 3/4 how much will I get? 38:39 You're gonna be inputting some information but you're gonna get a very accurate answer. 38:46 It's an estimate, I have to say it's an estimate, but it's a really good one. 38:53 Our calculations are set up to give a greater return to the person who earns less per year 39:02 but works steadily year after year after year after year 39:09 and this chart shows what that looks like. So the bars, the vertical bars, that's pre-retirement percentage of earnings. 39:16 So if you look at a low earner, you can expect about 55% of your former earnings 39:22 coming back to you, a medium earner about 41%, a very high earner about 34%. 39:31 I've had some discussion at my desk from a husband and wife filing, it's not always the most pleasant discussion 39:36 but this is how the law is written and this is how we provide some security in your retirement years. 39:43 There are a few people and I don't know how many people here this will affect but I'm gonna give you just a quick overview of something called 39:49 the windfall elimination provision. Prior to 1983 when Congress made some amendments 39:56 to the Social Security Act, people could get a full social security benefit 40:03 plus a full pension from work not under social security. 40:10 So I'll give you a quick example. In Ohio, people who teach in Ohio, professors, elementary school teachers, it doesn't matter, 40:19 if you work in the State of Ohio, you are not paying into social security taxes. They have their own separate pension system. 40:27 So before 1983, if they also had some work outside of Ohio, maybe they became teachers late in life 40:35 and they already had their 40 credits in with social security, they could get their social security benefit and all of that pension benefit. 40:43 In 1983, Congress said we're not gonna do that anymore. That's really kind of playing the system. So we're gonna change that 40:50 and people who have government work prior to me starting, this is years ago, they're not gonna get all of it. 41:00 So in Ohio, I have to look at how much money you get in your gross pension from the state of Ohio 41:07 and then I'm going to reduce your social security by a portion of that. 41:13 In that first computation I showed you, we said we were gonna look at 90% 41:19 of your first $856 in earnings. So for a worker in Ohio, that 90% becomes 40%. 41:29 So they're not gonna get that full computation. There are some people who have some years of coverage 41:37 under social security and that percentage, that 40%, might change a little bit. 41:45 There's a sliding scale. I'm not gonna go into all the details of that. It may not affect you at all 41:51 but just know that that does exist. At one time, Ypsi and Ann Arbor Fire and Police 41:57 did not pay into social security. So we do still have some retirees in those areas 42:02 where we are doing this windfall elimination provision. Also, retirees from the City of Detroit, police and fire, 42:09 and city employees in the City of Detroit, they are also affected by this provision. 42:16 There is one huge exception to this and that is if you have something called 30 years of coverage. 42:24 That's figured a little differently than your 40 credits. It's a different dollar amount. They would stay with that 90% factor in the benefit formula 42:33 and this does show, this slide does show that if you had 21, 22, 23, 42:39 24 and upwards to 30, we're gonna change that percentage in the calculator. 42:45 There's also something called government pension offset and this gets confused 42:51 with the windfall elimination provision. Even in our brains we have to sit and really think about it, which one is which? 42:56 Which rule is which? So if your spouse worked for a non-social security tax job 43:04 and they have a pension and they want to draw on your record, they're not gonna get their full benefit from your record 43:12 because they've got this outside pension where they didn't pay social security. This one does happen and we look at 2/3 43:19 of that pension amount, literally 66%, and we overlay that onto the spousal benefit 43:26 and there are some times when they're not gonna get anything at all and there are times when you would get 43:31 a small amount of money. It's worth talking to us about it and letting us work the computation because sometimes you might get enough 43:38 to pay for that Medicare premium and that's a nice bonus to have. 43:45 It is possible to work and still receive retirement monies from us but if you're taking early retirement, 43:52 you have to work under a certain dollar level. We have to define retirement in some way. 43:58 We define it with a dollar amount. In 2017, if you are under full retirement age 44:05 and filing or receiving social security retirement, you cannot earn over $16,920 for the year. 44:14 If you go over, you're gonna owe us money and you're gonna owe us a dollar for every two dollars that you go over. 44:24 At full retirement age, the month you become full retirement age, you have no earnings limit at all. 44:32 You can earn whatever you want, pay as many taxes as you need to and it may increase your monthly benefit 44:38 but there's no limit. Now the tricky part is that center line, the year full retirement age is reached. 44:45 So I have a family member who is going to be 66 in 2018. 44:53 This family member is still working and is earning over $16,920. 44:59 However, my family member is earning less than $44,880 a year. 45:06 So the year you turn full retirement age is a very special year and you may be able to retire early 45:12 that year without waiting until the month of your birthday because I'm only gonna count your earnings 45:18 from January 1 to the last day of the month before you turn 66. 45:26 So in my family member's case, I'll tell her later that I used her as an example, so her birthday's in September (clears throat). 45:32 I'm only gonna look at her earnings from January 1 through August 31. 45:37 If she's below $44,880 in that eight month time span, 45:42 I can go ahead and entitle her in January. It'll be a slightly reduced benefit but she doesn't 45:49 have to wait 'til 66 in September. She can already have that money coming in and it's only going to be reduced by eight months 45:57 so that's not a bad way to do it. So if you're under 66, your earnings limit is $16,920. 46:03 If you're in the year of full retirement age attainment, you can earn up to $44,880. 46:11 The month you reach your full retirement age, there is no limit to your earnings. 46:17 I don't expect you to memorize all of this but I'm hoping that some of this will stay with you in time for you to start thinking about how to plan 46:24 and where you wanna go and we are always happy to talk to you about this. 46:31 We do offer disability benefits through social security and we have a definition - a medical condition or combination of impairments 46:39 that prevent you from substantial gainful work for at least 12 months or expected to result in your death. 46:47 The determination from our medical agency includes age, education, and work experience. 46:54 You must have paid into social security enough 46:59 to qualify for disability. It is insurance. 47:04 Retirement benefits are retirement insurance. Disability benefits are disability insurance. 47:10 So depending on your age, determines how many credits you have had to work in order to qualify. 47:17 You must have paid into social security five out of the last 10 years in order to quality 47:23 for social security disability. For a younger worker, say under age 31, 47:29 we require less work. Again, if you're receiving a survivor benefit, 47:36 if you're receiving retirement benefit, your child may be able to receive a disability benefit and I've mentioned that a couple of times. 47:43 It's called disabled adult child benefits. We would need a medical determination for that child 47:49 and they had to have been disabled before age 22 and they cannot be married. 47:55 Your spouse also may qualify on your record. If you're getting disability, your spouse could qualify when they turn 62. 48:03 Your spouse could qualify if they're caring for your child who's under age 16 and again divorced spouses can qualify. 48:10 You can apply online at age 18 or older if you believe 48:16 that you meet that medical condition with medical impairments and you need to reside inside the United States 48:22 or in one of its territories or commonwealths. To apply online, 48:28 you're gonna complete an online disability application. It will take you then onto a disability report 48:36 where you yourself list what's wrong, what you're dealing with, who your doctors are, what hospital visits you may have had 48:43 and then at the end you're going to sign a form called an SSA-827 which gives us authorization 48:51 to request your medical records for you. You do not have to come into our office 48:57 with stacks and stacks of medical records. It's time consuming to get them 49:03 and you don't feel well enough to go get them, you don't have to pay for them. That is something that we do for you. 49:10 We have just recently added a disability application through our SSI program as well 49:16 and so if you're applying online you may encounter that as well. SSI is a program that we administer in our office. 49:23 It is not social security disability. It's for people who are disabled and have not worked enough 49:29 to qualify for disability insurance. We have in this hospital and especially we have babies 49:37 who are born with particular health conditions and they may qualify for SSI benefits 49:44 while they are in the hospital. We used to have someone who came over pretty regularly to take those applications right at the patient bedside 49:51 and once again because of budget cuts we are no longer able to do that 49:56 but we still take those applications, we still have a relationship with social workers here that call our office and make us aware of those situations. 50:03 That's just one way that you might be aware of SSI disability. 50:10 Applying for retirement benefits, again I mentioned this earlier, you can do that online. It's a very straightforward, I'm not gonna say easy, 50:18 but it's a very straightforward application. It's a conditional application. So the way you answer this question determines 50:25 what question comes up next. So it leads you through and once again it's gonna come to a human being to review to see if there are any questions 50:32 or any need for any kind of proofs, maybe a proof of birth. 50:37 If you were born outside of the United States and you became a US citizen but we don't have that 50:44 on our records yet, you might have to bring your naturalization certificate in so that we can update that before we pay you. 50:50 You can always call our 800 number to schedule an appointment. We have in-office appointments and we have telephone appointments 50:58 and you can always walk into your local social security office where I am, take a number and sit down and wait to see 51:03 one of our specialists. This is just another online, I guess, advertisement. 51:09 It's a good website though. You'd like it. In order to apply for social security benefits, 51:15 you're gonna obviously have to have your social security number, you'll have to have proof of age available 51:21 in case it is not already proven on our records. You'll wanna have your latest W-2 or tax return with you 51:27 so that you can check to make sure the earnings record we have is correct. 51:32 We hear from the IRS every year. It comes through Baltimore automatically and I start seeing earnings show up, 51:40 usually late March I start seeing earnings show up. You might want to have your earnings estimate with you. 51:46 You're definitely gonna want your bank information with you. We do not send out paper checks anymore and haven't 51:52 for several years. We need to have your bank routing number, your bank account number and you need to tell us 51:58 whether it's going to be a checking account or a savings account deposit. You're gonna want information about marriages and divorces. 52:05 We're gonna need actual dates of marriage and actual dates of divorce. 52:11 If you have served in the military, you're gonna wanna have access to those documents so that you can tell us your official induction 52:18 and discharge dates. If you've worked for the railroad, this one sounds unusual, we need to know that as well. 52:27 The railroad has their own retirement plan and there are some things that we can do for you 52:32 in our office if you were career railroad and there are other things that we cannot. That's a little easier for us to determine these days 52:39 than it was 12 years ago when I started but make sure you have that information available if you're coming in or you have a phone appointment 52:46 or even if you're filing online. So about 40% of people who get social security benefits 52:53 do pay income taxes on those benefits. At the end of each year, you'll receive a 1099, SSA-1099. 53:01 That's what you're gonna use when you file our taxes so that you can show how much you've received from our agency that year. 53:08 You can get a replacement 1099 by going online and setting up your account and printing it out there. 53:14 If you have a family member who has died this year and you need that 1099, 53:20 we can help you get that in the office. This is a question that we get pretty much 53:25 on a weekly basis but you're gonna have to show us your current ID, a valid driver's license or a state ID or a US passport 53:33 and then we're gonna need to see proof that you are the right person for us to disclose this information to. 53:41 Your birth certificate is important to bring with you, certified, original copy and there's one other thing, 53:47 if you are the executor of that will or if you are the person who is named in the trust to receive that information and deal with that will, 53:55 we're gonna wanna see that too and I forgot to mention that earlier. I think we've talked about this part already and this. 54:07 About 60 million people right now are receiving monthly benefits from social security and that is divided up in this way - 54:13 about 8.9 million are disabled workers and about 1.9 million of them are wives or children 54:22 of those disabled workers or husbands. 4.2 million are widows or widowers. 54:29 1.9 million are children of deceased workers and about 40 million are retired workers 54:36 and there are about three million of their dependents, spouses or children. 54:41 The basic concept of social security is an intergenerational transfer system. So the workers of today are paying the benefits 54:49 of current retirees and other beneficiaries. Right now there's an estimated 156 million workers 54:57 paying social security taxes. Even just a quick look at this chart is gonna tell you 55:04 that things are changing and have changed historically. The fertility rate in 1920 was about 3.2 children 55:11 for all women of childbearing age. During the Depression, that rate declined dramatically, 55:18 but after World War II there was a major increase in the fertility rates and we call that the Baby Boom generation 55:24 and we are currently taking applications from Baby Boomers everyday. Since 1960, there has been a major decline again 55:31 in the rate of birth and it's expected to remain relatively flat for the future. 55:36 So this means there are fewer future workers to support the large generation of Baby Boomers 55:42 who are applying. In 1960, we had about five workers for every beneficiary. 55:49 Last year in 2016 that was down to three workers for every beneficiary and we're projecting that by 2035, 55:56 that will be down to only two workers for each beneficiary receiving benefits. 56:04 The combined pressures of a massive Baby Boom generation and an increasing life expectancy will result 56:11 in an American population with more than 20% of our projected population over the age of 65 56:18 by the year 2035. 56:24 The social security trust fund will be able to pay about 79 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits 56:30 after 2034. Unless changes are made, this is where we're headed. 56:37 There have been various proposals for congressional action. Some of those proposals include raising your social security taxes, 56:44 what's known as your FICA tax on your pay stub. Changing the cost of living formula 56:50 is one thing they've discussed. Raising the cap on earning that are taxed is also under a discussion. 56:57 Right now you're paying Medicare on everything you earn but with social security there's a cap at which 57:03 we do not tax beyond. Sometimes they have discussed reducing benefits and again raising the full retirement age 57:12 which they've already done a couple of times. Another economic factor that can affect social security 57:18 is the rate of inflation. Social security will probably be the only source of your retirement income that is tied directly 57:26 to the consumer price index and that's important when you're going into your pre-retirement planning. 57:32 This is a chart of the cost of living increases we have given over the years. You'll notice that in 2009 and 2010 we were not able 57:41 to give a cost of living increase and again in 2015 there was no cost of living increase. 57:48 This is not an arbitrary decision by the Commissioner of Social Security nor is it a decision made by Congress or the President. 57:55 This is a formula that comes out of the department, a figure comes out of the Department of Labor. 58:02 That figure goes right into a formula that is part of social security law and the amount we get 58:09 and the cost of living increase spits out at the other end. So we always hope that the economy is going to do well 58:16 so that we can give you that increase. What you need to remember is that, 58:22 or if you don't know this, if social security is giving no increase or a small increase 58:29 but Medicare costs jump up, the law says that we can not decrease 58:34 your social security payment because of Medicare. There is something called a hold harmless provision 58:40 and we will leave you at the previous year's Medicare rate until we have a cost of living increase. 58:48 When we have a small increase as we did in December of 2016, we only were able to give a .3% cost of living increase 58:56 so the Medicare premiums went up a tiny bit and your benefit went up a tiny bit. 59:02 We didn't decrease the benefit but we did have to take more out for Medicare. 59:08 This is the end of our regular presentation. I'm happy to answer question. I know there will be some in the room and some online 59:15 and I will endeavor to answer them to the best of my ability. 59:21 - [Betty] Thank you so much, Kimberly. We're actually gonna start our Q&A session now. 59:26 There are microphones available for you to use and I'm gonna actually start with an online question 59:33 that we have. 59:41 The online question is I was married 27 years, divorced, he died two months after the divorce. 59:49 Am I able to start SSA on my own record at 62, 59:55 then switch to his record at age 65 for a higher benefit? 1:00:02 - [Kimberly] So that question is an excellent one. It's something that we deal with all the time and I did touch on that in the presentation. 1:00:07 The question is can I start my own benefit at 62, take early retirement, and then later switch to my former husband's record 1:00:16 because he passed away shortly after the divorce? So that answer is yes. 1:00:22 Our widows were not, and widowers, were not affected by that change in legislation last year. 1:00:28 Widows and widowers still have that ability to switch a benefit without harm. 1:00:34 If you, it's more common to start at 60 on a widow or widower's benefit and then later switch 1:00:41 but the way this questioner has asked is absolutely accurate. 1:00:47 You can start at your own at 62 and take a smaller benefit and then at full retirement age or earlier, 1:00:54 switch over to a widow's or widower's benefit. It just requires more contact with social security. 1:01:00 This doesn't happen automatically. You do need to come in or file online. We have to take the application so we can change 1:01:08 that entitlement. Good question. 1:01:14 - [Male] Umm, I -- - The microphone's coming to you. Thank you. - [Male] I filed a voluntary suspension and can I then 1:01:22 start getting benefits with an online process or do I need to go in the office to do that? 1:01:29 - I would like you to either call us or come in because I'd like to take a little signed statement from you that says I'm ready to start my benefits at this time. 1:01:37 When did you suspend your benefits? - [Male] March of 2016. 1:01:42 - Oh, right under the deadline. (laughs) - [Male] Right under the deadline. - So this gentleman filed under the deadline 1:01:50 and he wants to know, he filed and suspended, and he wants to know, how does he get his benefits started again? 1:01:57 He suspended so he could get some delayed retirement credits. We can do it by phone but I prefer to do it in office 1:02:04 so that we can have a discussion about what's going to happen, answer any questions you might have 1:02:10 and I prefer always to take a statement from you. When you make a change to your record I want it in writing. 1:02:16 I think it's better for you and I think it's better for us. - [Male] Also I noticed that I'm unable 1:02:22 to do the retirement benefit estimator online. - Right, because you've already retired. 1:02:28 You just aren't getting any money. - [Male] Okay. (laughs) - So once you've retired with us, you're no longer able to get that estimator online. 1:02:35 Even though this gentleman filed and suspended, we still say you're retired with us. 1:02:42 We've just voluntarily suspended your benefits so you could hopefully earn some extra money. 1:02:47 Good question. Down here in the front. You're welcome. Yes? 1:02:53 - [Male] I've been receiving paper mail in the postal service. How do I know whether this information is actually 1:03:00 from the government, from social service, or if I'm talking to someone on the phone, if they call me, 1:03:06 how do I know that that person is legit? - I think that's an excellent question. 1:03:13 I'll repeat that. This gentleman wants to know, when he gets mail, how does he know if it's legitimately from social security, 1:03:20 or from some other social service agency or Medicare? I'm gonna refer to my dad again and he'll call me and say, 1:03:29 "Okay, I got weird mail again. "You have to look at it." And he just holds it for me to come over and I open it and I determine. 1:03:35 You don't have the benefit of doing that. We are not gonna contact you by phone. We may contact you by mail but we're not gonna mail you 1:03:45 a statement anymore unless you don't have an online account. So the only time you're gonna hear from me 1:03:52 if you're not getting money is what? Pretty much never. You're just not gonna hear from us but if you have not 1:04:01 signed up for the online account, you're gonna get that statement in the mail if you're not receiving a benefit already. 1:04:06 So one of the ways that I check my dad's mail or my mail is I look at the fine print at the bottom of the envelope 1:04:14 or the letter and it usually tells you who has sent that mail to you and they are very deceptive. 1:04:21 These people are really good fraudsters because there are some that I have had to examine 1:04:27 very closely to try to determine. So my answer is when in doubt, throw it out. 1:04:35 Shred it. If you need us, come to us and we'll help you. There are very few times when we're gonna seek you out. 1:04:43 If we find out that someone has passed away, if a funeral home reports to us that someone has passed, 1:04:49 it will say on there if there is a surviving spouse. We will send a letter looking for you but it's gonna go 1:04:56 to the address of the person who passed and it will have our letterhead and it will generally have a reference 1:05:05 to the local office. I don't know how else to answer that because there are so many different things coming in. 1:05:11 When you're going online it's gotta say .gov. .G-O-V. We've had people come in who paid for forms that are free 1:05:20 on our website. They paid to get a replacement social security card. There's never a cost for replacement social security card 1:05:27 and there is never a cost for any application you file with us. Absolutely free. 1:05:32 So if they want money, if they want your social security number, if they want your Medicare number, 1:05:37 it's probably fraudulent 'cause we already know it. - [Betty] Online question - 1:05:43 please talk about one time payment for the death of a parent. My husband passed when our youngest daughter was 17. 1:05:49 Was she eligible to receive a one time payment? If so, can she still receive it if it's been four years 1:05:58 since his death? - That's a good question too. That one time payment upon the death of a worker 1:06:04 has an order of priority for payment. If there is a living spouse, 1:06:10 that one time payment called the lump sum death benefit of $255 is always going to go to the spouse first. 1:06:19 If there is no spouse living, then it's going to go down to the children. 1:06:24 If there are no children, it would go to the executor of your estate. So there is an order of priority. 1:06:31 You must file for that $255 payment within two years of death. 1:06:37 After two years, we can no longer take that application. So for this questioner, as the spouse, 1:06:44 they should have filed. If there was no spouse living, then the child. 1:06:51 The parent would have filed on the child's behalf. We can't take an application from a minor so usually we're taking it from a parent. 1:06:58 I hope that answers that question. Anymore questions in the audience? Yes? 1:07:04 - [Male] My wife and I immigrated to the US in '91 and so we don't have 35 years of FICA coverage 1:07:13 but we're both considering phased retirement and wanted to know what effect that would have 1:07:22 on the benefits that we'd get. It sounds like from what I've been seeing, 1:07:27 you base everything on 35 years. So anything that we make, say like for me it's 26 years I have, 1:07:34 anything I make would increase the benefit. 1:07:39 I wouldn't decrease the benefit. - Yeah, this gentleman and his wife came to this country 1:07:45 and started working a little later in life and so you're concerned that you may not have 40 years of credits in yet at the time that you -- 1:07:51 - [Male] Oh, we've got the credits. That's no problem. - You've got the credits, okay. So that's good. - [Male] Yeah. 1:07:56 - So we're always gonna look at the highest 35 out of 40 and your estimate -- - But it's based on 35 though, it's averaged over 35. 1:08:03 - 35, actually 35. If you didn't even have that we're gonna have to put zeros in and that can affect 1:08:08 how much you receive, your monthly benefit but your benefit doesn't go down. Anytime you're paying taxes, it should help it to go up. 1:08:17 - [Male] One other quick question. You were talking about pensions that were outside - Oh yes. of the social security, 1:08:24 my wife also works at the VA. Is the VA system one of these different ones? 1:08:31 - Yeah, that's a good question. If you're working for the VA and you've been there for a very long time, 1:08:37 you may have paid into a system where you weren't paying social security taxes and that's called C-S-R-S. 1:08:44 C-S-R-S. If she began working there after 1983 when federal employment changed retirement systems, 1:08:52 chances are she's under the same program that I'm under which is called FERS, F-E-R-S, 1:08:58 and that means that she is paying social security taxes. So for her, she won't have to worry about that different formula. 1:09:05 It would be the regular formula that the rest of us are under. However, I do wanna point out that if there is 1:09:12 a foreign pension coming to either you or your wife, we may reduce your benefit due to that foreign pension. 1:09:17 So if you have a foreign pension, when you come to file, I would say in that case, come in and see us. 1:09:23 Bring proof of that foreign pension and we will have that, 1:09:28 we will change the currency and determine how that will affect your payments. The other thing that I would mention is if you naturalized 1:09:34 and are US citizens, if you didn't come to social security and prove the change in citizenship, 1:09:40 we won't have that on our records and you'll need to do that. - [Male] We did that the day of naturalization. (laughs) - Fantastic, thank you. 1:09:46 There are, most of the judges that go through the naturalization ceremonies now, 1:09:51 they tell people to come right in but years ago they did not and so there are people who have been here 1:09:57 for quite some time who have no idea that we don't have their citizenship on record and that's something we do have to have. 1:10:05 These are really great questions. Everybody was obviously paying very close attention during the presentation. 1:10:10 There seems like there's a question way in the back? One here? - [Female] I have one. - Thank you. 1:10:16 - [Female] My husband is covered under the U of M insurance with me and he is seven years older than I am and he, 1:10:22 we did not submit any application for Medicare. He turned 68 and I'm 61. 1:10:29 Should he have put in Medicare application? 1:10:36 - So the question, I always repeat the question for online listeners. This lady is a U of M employee and her husband 1:10:44 is covered under her insurance through U of M, is this correct? - [Female] Yes. 1:10:49 - So it's through your current employment. Then he does not have to apply for Medicare A or B 1:10:54 at this time. Even though he has passed his initial enrollment period at age 65, 1:11:00 he will be covered under the special enrollment period and I mentioned forms to fill out? 1:11:06 So the University will need to fill out a form for you and your husband you will each fill out a form 1:11:13 and together that will give us enough proof to enroll your husband correctly so that he will not face 1:11:18 any penalty for late filing. (muffled speaking) Yes, when you are ready to leave the University, 1:11:25 even if you're not 65. So if something happens and you leave the University 1:11:31 before you're 65, he is gonna have to apply for Medicare then and there and so we need to get that form. 1:11:39 - [Male] We have a question over here. - Thank you. - [Female] Okay, I plan on retiring 12/31/18. I turn 66 next September. 1:11:47 My husband's on social security disability. Do I get my full social security disability at 66 then 1:11:55 in September? - Are you applying for retirement? - [Female] Not until next year. 1:12:02 So you will receive, let's see, you're turning 66 this year, correct? 1:12:07 - [Female] No, not this year, next year. - So, I'm sorry, I'm gonna ask you to repeat. When do you turn 66? - [Female] September 2018. 1:12:14 - And when are you retiring? - [Female] 12/31/18 - (laughs) Perfect, 1:12:19 thank you for repeating that for my little brain. So you're gonna receive not only your full retirement benefit 1:12:25 but you could receive two delayed retirement credits because you're waiting two months after full retirement age 1:12:32 and we'll ask you at that time, do you want me to make this effective with age 66 1:12:37 or do you want me to make it effective with 66 and two months so that you can receive 1:12:43 that little bit extra money for those two delayed retirement credits? 1:12:49 Anything after age 66 or after full retirement age, we call a delayed retirement credit 1:12:54 and we count those months and that's how we determine how much you'll receive. Does that answer your question or did you have one more? 1:13:00 - [Female] Well, then I'm a little bit confused. So would I benefit if I waited until my date of retirement 1:13:08 or should I be or could I be eligible at 66 in September 1:13:16 while I'm still working through the end of the year? - Absolutely. The question is at 66 in September, 1:13:23 can you file and receive full retirement benefits even though you're still working until the end of December 1:13:29 and that answer is yes because as of the month you turn 66, we don't care how much money you earn 1:13:35 and you can get your full retirement amount. - [Female] Okay. - Now there is the possibility of a spousal benefit 1:13:42 either for you or your husband but you would have to look at his disability amount because as a disability beneficiary, 1:13:48 he's already getting his full retirement age amount and compare it to yours. If one of you is less than half of the other, 1:13:56 then we're gonna wanna take a spousal application as well. My guess is they're gonna be pretty close 1:14:02 and during a lifetime you'll each just receive your own but if one of you should pass then we'll take a look 1:14:08 at a spousal application at that time. - [Female] Okay, would you suggest I come in and talk to somebody then, at that point? 1:14:14 - We can tell you the difference. You can also use the retirement estimator to tell you what the difference in the money amount is. 1:14:20 With only two months, it's not a huge amount, but it is a way to have payments coming in 1:14:28 for a couple of months. If you've got bills you wanna pay like a credit card you wanna pay off or you wanna pre-pay 1:14:33 on a mortgage or whatever, it's based on your need, where your financial need is greatest. 1:14:39 Is it better for you in the long run to have a slightly higher payment so that it will help pay for Medicare payments in the future 1:14:45 or is it better for you to have that money in hand to pay something that you want to get paid off or bank it yourself? 1:14:52 - [Female] Okay, thank you. - You're welcome. Most banks do not pay the return rate that we do. They're not giving you 8% so you might want to think 1:14:59 about taking those delayed retirement credits. Way in the back. Hi. (laughs) - [Female] Hey, there. 1:15:04 I'm hoping to retire at 62 and 10 months. That's my plan and I know that it's a reduced amount 1:15:14 that I would get. - Correct. - Does it go up when I get to 66 and two months? - No, the question is if I take my benefit early 1:15:21 at any time before full retirement age, will it then go up at full retirement age and that answer is no. 1:15:27 When you decide to take an early benefit, a reduced benefit, you are at that rate forever 1:15:35 unless there are cost of living increases and here is one other way. Should you decide to go back to work very part-time 1:15:42 after you retire and you earn under that $16,920 amount 1:15:48 then we may recalculate. We're gonna recalculate you every year automatically. 1:15:53 You don't have to ask. If one of your low years that we used in your original computation is lower than one of these part-time earnings years now, 1:16:02 I will drop the lower one, plug in this retirement part-time year, 1:16:07 recalculate and see if I can pay you anything more. So that's kind of a fair thing right 1:16:15 and that's done automatically every year. You never have to ask us to do that. We always do that for everybody. 1:16:20 - [Female] And we were advised or, 'cause my husband is also thinking of retiring, - Uh huh. - [Female] We were advised to wait 1:16:26 until the first of the year so that we wouldn't be taxed on everything that we earned? 1:16:33 - Tax questions I can't answer. We're not trained in that kind of law and so that's where 1:16:39 I would say go with your financial planner on that one. That's definitely a tax question. 1:16:45 - [Female] Okay, thank you. - You're welcome. Okay, over here? - [Female] Yeah, I became a citizen in the early '90's 1:16:52 and I haven't come to social security office with the information so can I come to the Ann Arbor Office 1:16:58 and set an appointment or do I have to sit around, take a number? - For, so the question is if I need to come in 1:17:05 and update my naturalization, can I set an appointment or do I walk in? For that particular instance, 1:17:10 we are not able to set an appointment. - [Female] Okay. - So you can come into the office. All of our offices are open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 1:17:19 Friday from nine to four and on Wednesdays we're open to the public from nine to noon. Lest you think that we are going home and having fun, 1:17:26 we are in there working our little fingers off trying to get our work done. Our jobs are about a 50 or 60 hour a week job 1:17:33 and we get 40 hours to do it. So a few years ago with the budget cuts in Congress, the Commissioner of Social Security said the only way 1:17:40 for us to have any hope of getting this job done is to close early to the public on Wednesdays. 1:17:45 So we do close at noon. It won't take us very long. What's very important is that you bring the original naturalization certificate with you, not a photocopy. 1:17:54 We can never use a photocopy of anything at social security. It must be the original. If you have a US passport, bring that as well, 1:18:00 and then a current driver's license or state ID. - [Female] So it's good to come at 8:45 and sit outside in the parking lot 'til the door opens? (laughs) 1:18:07 - (laughs) You can do that. I'm gonna tell you right now, there's a line every morning when we open our door 1:18:12 and we're peeking out to see how many people are in line. (laughs) If you come at 9:15, you might not have to stand in line outside 1:18:18 'cause everybody's in and checked in and you -- (muffled speaking) Yeah, you could be. (laughs) Or very fast. 1:18:24 Are you trying to make us look bad here? (laughs) (muffled speaking) Please do, please do. (laughs) And you are allowed to bring a phone in now 1:18:35 and you can actually make a phone call but if the guard finds that it's becoming disruptive 1:18:41 and people can't hear their numbers called, they might ask you to. (muffled speaking) 1:18:46 We do not have wifi. (laughs) - [Betty] I have an online question. 1:18:52 - You don't want us on the wifi playing. - My husband and I are the same age and he started getting social security benefits at age 62. 1:19:02 I am now retiring at age 69 and just learned that I could've received spousal benefits 1:19:08 since I was age 66. How far back, how retroactive, can my benefits be 1:19:15 for spousal coverage? - So, in general, we don't pay a lot of retroactivity. 1:19:21 When you are over full retirement age, the maximum retroactivity we can pay is six months 1:19:27 and that's the only time we pay retroactively, is if you are over full retirement age. So this person asking the question could come in, 1:19:36 I would say, come in right away, this week if you can and let us file for a spousal benefit for you and we'll give you six months of that 1:19:45 and then we can switch you over to your own retirement if that's what you would like to do. 1:19:51 Good question. 1:19:56 - [Female] My husband is planning on retiring but then continuing to work as a consultant after 1:20:01 and so if he starts his social security I saw the $16,000 plus limit that you already showed. 1:20:10 Does taking money from your own retirement account affect that at all? 1:20:16 - So the question is if I'm working part-time after I retire with social security, what other income counts towards that earnings limit, 1:20:24 right? - [Female] Mm Hmm (affirmative). - The only thing we're looking at is earned income. So I'm looking at wages and I'm looking at self-employment 1:20:31 in terms of that earnings limit. If you have other money coming in, dividends or whatever, 1:20:37 I'm not looking at that. Some people have rental income, I'm not looking at that. It's work and money that you're paid for actual work 1:20:45 so you don't have to worry about that. Self-employment, I don't know if he's consulting he may be paid by 1099, 1:20:52 as a contractor, an independent contractor. We do look at net for people who are self-employed. 1:20:59 So that's a little different figure and if he wants to retire before full retirement age and he's self-employed, 1:21:05 we're just gonna ask for a little more information so that we can be sure that he's going to stay 1:21:10 under that earnings limit. We also look at the value of that self-employment. 1:21:16 Is he the only employee? Is he in control of who's getting paid what? Who's making the decisions? 1:21:21 A consulting job where he is the only person working is pretty straightforward but I would like to see 1:21:27 an estimate of what the earnings will be for the year if at all possible when he applies. That just makes my job easier and his life easier. 1:21:35 When we ask for information it's not because we're interested in your personal life, it's because we have a set of laws that Congress wrote. 1:21:44 Social security policy is derived from that law and our job is to find out how all of these millions 1:21:52 of people in this country can fit into that law. So each individual case is exactly that - 1:21:59 it's individual and we're gonna work with you to see what we can do to try to get you money 1:22:04 or not get you money. One other thing I'll mention that I didn't talk about in the presentation and that is confusing sometimes 1:22:11 to people with that earnings limit of $16,920, if you have worked part of the year 1:22:16 and you want to retire say now and you've gone over that $16,920, 1:22:22 you can still retire with us. You've already gone over the yearly limit but in the first year of retirement with social security, 1:22:29 we can look at annual earnings or monthly earnings whichever is more advantageous to you. 1:22:35 So if you have worked through all of September and you're way over the earnings limit of $16,920, 1:22:41 if as of October 1, you're not going to have a working month 1:22:46 for the rest of the year then I can entitle you in October. Non-work would be under the monthly limit or nothing. 1:22:56 So you can, even still you can work a little bit once I entitle you to reduced benefit but you're gonna have to be very careful not to go over 1:23:03 because if you go over on the monthly amount then you're gonna get a letter from us that says, 1:23:08 you know what? You really were not retired so we're just gonna stop everything and we're gonna start you again in January 1:23:14 when we find out how much you're gonna earn for the next year. If you take early retirement with us 1:23:19 and you are still working, it is your responsibility to contact our agency in January, 1:23:24 maybe February, and tell us what you expect to earn for the year because what we will do is if I know in January 1:23:33 that you're gonna earn $18,000, I can subtract that earnings limit, $16,920 from $18,000, 1:23:41 take that figure divided in half, because it's one dollar for every two dollars you go over, 1:23:49 and then I can withhold your benefit until you have kind of charged off that amount you're gonna owe us. 1:23:55 So rather than getting all the way to the end of the year and owing us a huge amount of money, we'll just withhold your checks throughout the year 1:24:02 and then start you based on your estimate when we can pay you again. 1:24:09 I think communication is key. I don't think people think of the government as being easily accessible or easy to deal with 1:24:16 but communication is key with our agency so that we can help in situations like that. 1:24:22 Thank you for that question. - [Female] And just a, I've got a follow up question. - Sure. - [Female] Six months before my 65th birthday, 1:24:28 calls about Medicare, telephone calls, should I assume that those are the ones wanting to sell 1:24:35 you C and D because -- - You should assume that in every case 'cause I'm not gonna call you. 1:24:41 I don't know when you're 65. We're never gonna call you about it. If you're receiving phone calls about Medicare or letters about Medicare, 1:24:46 it is from insurance companies trying to sell you insurance. We won't send you a letter and tell you to enroll. 1:24:52 You have to know when to enroll with us. - [Female] But applying for Part A which you said is free 1:24:57 is probably still a good idea. - Unless Benefits tells you not to, as far as social security is concerned, 1:25:04 why not do it? Why not have that additional coverage? If you're hospitalized and your insurance through the U 1:25:10 doesn't cover everything then they're just gonna bill Medicare and that can only be a positive for you 1:25:16 is how we look at it. Thank you. - [Female] My question has to do with the, 1:25:22 am I correct you said 8% more per year? 1:25:28 - Correct. - [Female] So if I retire after my 63rd birthday, 1:25:36 it's 8% more than if I retired at 62? - No. (laughs) 1:25:42 That question was, what's the math? What's the math if I take it early as opposed to later 1:25:49 as opposed to late? I don't, I'm gonna tell you I don't know the answer to that percentage because when I reduce your benefit 1:25:56 for early retirement, I reduce it a fraction of a percentage point 1:26:01 for every month that you come out early. So I can't tell you exactly what that's gonna be. 1:26:06 Where the 8% comes in is between full retirement age and 70. 1:26:12 - [Female] Okay. - That's where that 8% is a definite. If somebody wants to do the math, you can do that. 1:26:17 I could not sit and do that math all day long because I have way too many people I've got to take care of 1:26:23 so I try to deal with heres what it will be this month, here's what it will be that month. 1:26:28 Where do you wanna go from there? 1:26:35 - [Female] Hi, I have a question about the ex-spouse rule. - Sure. - [Female] If I collect under that, can I collect until I'm 70, 1:26:42 drop that one and then use what mine would be at 70 without any penalty to my original benefits 1:26:48 and is the amount based on the amount he would get when I apply? 1:26:54 So if he's 64 versus 66, it would be a smaller amount because he's only 64? 1:27:01 - So that's a really complicated question but it's a good question. This is an ex-spouse question. 1:27:08 So your question is can I file under my ex-spouse record 1:27:15 at a young age and then switch to my own at say full retirement age? 1:27:21 Here's where that thing called deemed filing comes in. If you are under full retirement age and you want 1:27:27 a benefit from us, you have to take your own. That was always the rule. 1:27:34 Then people figured out that there was a loophole that if they got to age 66, they could not file for their own 1:27:41 and file for their ex-spouse, half of their ex-spouse. They've closed that loophole. So if you were born after January 2, 1954, 1:27:49 you have to take your own benefit first and that's always been the case if you file 1:27:55 before full retirement age and now that's true even after full retirement age unless your ex-spouse 1:28:01 has passed away then the rules are different. Then you are not limited by deemed filing. 1:28:08 Is he still living? Then you have to take your own first 1:28:14 and then we'll see if there's anything we can pay you on your spousal record. - [Female] I guess there's an age requirement 1:28:21 where they close the loopholes out? - Yes, when were you born? - [Female] Pardon? 1:28:26 - When were you born? Were you born before January 2, 1954? - [Female] Yeah. - Then we can take a look at that and see what we can do 1:28:32 but it's a different (laughs), I said one loophole but it's a multi-pronged scenario 1:28:40 so there are several factors that I have to look at. If he had passed it would be no issue 1:28:48 because you're both still alive obviously, then I have to look at several portions of that law 1:28:57 and I'm gonna tell you that I would want you to come in and let me look at it. You are gonna have to file for your own 1:29:04 if you're born after that day. Before that date, I may still be able to help you. (muffled speaking) 1:29:11 Yes, if you are under, you still have to file for your own. - [Female] Okay. - [Male] Okay, we have a question here. 1:29:17 - [Female] I have a question regarding the divorced widow, widower benefits. - This is always a hot topic. (laughs) 1:29:24 Obviously! (laughs) - [Female] And that question is with regards to making 1:29:30 an appointment, is that necessary and what documents would be needed? 1:29:35 - You can always walk into any local social security office. You don't have to come into Ann Arbor. We always like you to go to your local office. 1:29:43 You're just gonna have a little bit of a wait time. In order to do any kind of documentation 1:29:49 on somebody else's record, we have to have proof that the marriage occurred and proof that the divorce occurred 1:29:54 and proof that the death occurred in this case. So I would need to see original or certified marriage certificate, 1:30:00 original or certified divorce certificate and then if we don't already know that he has passed, we would need to have information on his passing. 1:30:08 Chances are we'll know, if he's been gone for awhile, chances are we've already received proof of that 1:30:13 so that would be harder but you also and this is something, I'm sorry, ma'am, over here with the ex-spouse question, 1:30:19 we need to know your ex-spouse's social security number so when you come in you gotta bring us that social security number. 1:30:26 I can find it but I can't release that to you. So you need to bring it. If you can't, 1:30:31 if you no longer know your ex-husband's or ex-wife's social security number, check your kids' birth certificates. 1:30:37 For many years, social security numbers of the parents were on the birth certificates or look for an old tax form 1:30:43 that you might still have hanging around but we do need you to bring that as well.