@coldfusion wrote:
@AndrewF wrote:
My spouse was an immigrant who is now a citizen. He's been working for 5 years and a few months, full time. It's interesting to see his Social Security statements every year, because while it wouldn't be much based on how much he's worked now, it's also not nothing. Even if there was no more work record until he reached FRA, he would still get over $850 for life. They take your highest 35 years. If you haven't worked for 35 years, they take the years you didn't work and average those in as a $0 year.
He isn't eligible for retirement benefits until he has obtained 40 credits, until the he's only eligible for spousal benefits or SSI. He should be earning a Social Security credit for every roughly $1750 (current rate) in earned income in each year, but you can only earn up to 4 credits per year. If your timeline is accurate barring any targeted loophole like having a job that doesn't partipate in SS your husband would potentially be eligible for retirement benefits at some point in 2029, but not before.
That's the actual requirement behind the 'you need to work at least 10 years to collect Social Security' type arguments.
Yes, which would be less than 5 years from now. But he's also not old enough to even file at all for another 22 years, so would have worked at least 32 (ish) out of the 35 years as far as "35 highest years of earnings" even if he decided to take benefits aged 62.
So they would penalize for early claim and three years of $0 in the 35 year calculation for PIA.
To take at 65, there'd be the entire 35 years for PIA, but still a penalty for taking benefits early.
There's always an option to draw benefits at 62, and actuarially it should be the same as if you take them at any other age as far as lifetime amount collected, but for most people it comes down to can they live on the smaller checks if they take them early and how long do they think they'll live. Obviously some people don't live as long.
I had a landlord that took them at 62. I asked him why. He said he had multiple chronic life-threatening health problems that I won't get into, but nobody really knows how long they'll live. And, amazingly he's still alive all these years later, but that was not a given, and you can't leave the money to anyone when you go because it's not specifically set aside for you.
There's definitely an argument for taking them early in our case. It doesn't take as much money to live where he's from and due to our marriage I have the right to legal permanent residency there. So at the rate things are heading with the affordability crisis in the United States, that's one potential "foot out the door" option. No more hedge fund landlords. No more financialization of health care.
Was talking to a friend the other day, in the UK, who wryly noted that "Hospitals in the US are glorified debt collectors."
I had no strong argument against this. I've got shoulder surgery coming up and have reconciled with the idea of a prolonged recovery, but what the bill will be is anyone's guess. Sort of tired of this.
Also, my spouse is eligible for SSDI because the Social Security website said he would be, presuming that he became disabled right now and made a claim and it was approved. It would only be about $893 a month, but he has enough credits for that.
He's not disabled, that's just hypothetical, and I'd hate to figure out a budget based on $893 on his side, but $893 beats a kick in the butt. It goes up every year when I check since they were even giving the figure before it said "You have enough work credits."
Going back to retirement, you become eligible to file a claim at 62, with the aforementioned penalty, but the amount your check would be goes up every month you don't file until age 70.
My dad delayed until 70, of course he may not get as much as if he took it at 62, thanks to the fact that he's had two emergency surgeries, including one because his heart is clogged and he went down last year while mowing the lawn.
Then he went out and mowed the lawn again this year, and he went flying down a hill and into the neighbor's fence, and broke his hand.
I told him pay someone to mow the lawn. He has the money.
Circling back to my spouse, yes, Social Security credits affect immigrants in yet another way, the US citizen is responsible for them financially until they've paid 40 credits into Social Security -or- until they become a US citizen, whichever happens first.
Since the INA allows spouses of US citizens to apply for citizenship 3 years after the date their Conditional Green Card (the 2 year one for which conditions must be removed via I-751 Removal of Conditions), you can become a US citizen in perhaps 4-5 years after you start the process of a marriage based green card. You can even hit USCIS with a "combined filing" so they adjudicate both cases at once.
So when my spouse became a US citizen in 5 years, I was released from the I-864 Affidavit of Support at that point, not at the point he would earn 40 credits for Social Security. I also no longer have to fill out form I-865 every time we move.
Someone called Dave Ramsey a while back asking if they should sign a joint sponsor form for their son-in-law and I was like (to myself) "Well, only if you're absolutely sure that he's not going to divorce the daughter, run off, and sign up for government programs, otherwise have fun with your retirement while they're docking your Social Security and putting liens on your property."
In general, if you have someone ask you to sign as a joint sponsor for immigration, you should be even more afraid (especially now) than you would with co-signing a car loan, or even a Parent Plus! school loan. While they might not come calling on you, they also might. And you could have to refund the government for Medicaid, food stamps, all kinds of stuff, from some person who divorced your adult child who was probably the one begging you to sign.
In situations where filing bankruptcy wouldn't help you at all and they'll get to dock your Social Security checks, don't sign those forms, ever.
