{"id":56703,"date":"2023-01-04T15:12:33","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T20:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=56703"},"modified":"2023-01-04T15:12:39","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T20:12:39","slug":"will-the-family-maximum-limit-my-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2023\/01\/will-the-family-maximum-limit-my-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Will the Family Maximum Limit My Benefits?<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have a question about the family maximum SS retirement benefit. As I understand it, if the breadwinner is drawing retirement benefits or is deceased, the family maximum is calculated from a formula that yields a figure between 150 percent and 188 percent of the breadwinner\u2019s primary insurance amount \u2014 his or her monthly benefit if claimed at full retirement age. That age is 66 and 4 months for people born in 1956 and will gradually increase to 67 over the next few years. Is this calculation only applicable at full retirement age (in my case 66 and 4 months) or is it still applicable if I delay taking SS until 68 or 70? My assumption is the “breadwinner” is the spouse with the higher income. Signed: Planning my Retirement<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dear Planning:<\/em><\/strong> The Family Maximum applies only when more than one dependent is collecting benefits from the record of a worker who is either deceased or collecting Social Security retirement benefits (the \u201cbreadwinner\u201d). That might typically be a spouse and a minor child, multiple minor children, or, perhaps, multiple children and a spouse as well.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Family Maximum doesn\u2019t apply, for example, when both a current spouse and an ex-spouse are collecting benefits from that \u201cbreadwinner\u201d \u2013 only when a current spouse and minor children are collecting too. The Family Maximum also does not apply when only one dependent (e.g., a spouse) is collecting benefits from the \u201cbreadwinner,\u201d or when no dependents are collecting benefits on the \u201cbreadwinner\u2019s\u201d record. Neither would the Family Maximum restrict your benefit if you wait until you are age 70 to claim your maximum personal benefit. So, if your concern is that the Family Maximum might limit your, or your wife\u2019s benefit if you wait until age 68 or 70 to claim, you can discard that concern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are correct that the Family Maximum formula, when it applies, yields a maximum total limit of 150% to 188% of the worker\u2019s \u201cprimary insurance amount\u201d or \u201cPIA,\u201d which is the amount the worker is due at full retirement age (FRA) and, as you know, your FRA is determined by your year of birth. If the Family Maximum applies because multiple dependents are collecting SS benefits on your record, Social Security will determine your maximum family dollar amount, deduct your PIA (your FRA benefit) from that amount, and the remainder would be available to be shared equally among your multiple dependents. But if no one else, or only your wife, is collecting benefits on your record, the Family Maximum does not apply. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a question about the family maximum SS retirement benefit. As I understand it, if the breadwinner is drawing retirement benefits or is deceased, the family maximum is calculated… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":55845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2046],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56703"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56705,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56703\/revisions\/56705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}