He also notes that their liabilities for other post-retirement benefit (OPEB) obligations are largely unfunded.
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Social Security uses your highest 35 years of earnings to determine your retirement benefit.
The limit varies, but is generally equal to about 150% to 180% of your retirement benefit.
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In other words, your Primary Insurance Amount is viewed as non-existant until you apply for a retirement benefit.
But if you are married or divorced, waiting to collect your retirement benefit may be the wrong move.
Suppose you drop dead before you start collecting your retirement benefit and before you reach full retirement age.
If you can afford to delay taking your Social Security retirement benefit, do.
To be precise, your total benefit will equal your own reduced retirement benefit plus your unreduced excess spousal benefit.
Sue ends up getting a total benefit equal to her own reduced retirement benefit plus her unreduced excess spousal benefit.
This generally amounts to an increase in the retirement benefit of 8% for each year delayed beyond Full Retirement Age.
Then it plugs your AIME into a formula that figures out your full retirement benefit, called your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA).
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But suppose you started receiving your retirement benefit right before you died.
At Gibson Dunn, partners who serve there for 20 years get a retirement benefit at age 60 that pays out 20% of their top compensation.
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If you can get extra benefits for yourself or your family members at no cost in terms of your own retirement benefit, go for it.
If the surviving spouse is eligible for a retirement benefit that is greater than the Survivor Benefit, only the greater of the two will be payable.
However, they should warn that forcing businesses to offer a new retirement benefit would be counterproductive, making it even harder for companies to create new jobs.
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But even in this case, delaying retirement benefit receipt through age 70 has a payoff, namely potentially providing your current and former spouses with much higher survivor benefits.
This figure is the primary figure against which all calculations are run for figuring your retirement benefit, and for calculating a Spousal Benefit for your wife or husband.
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It sure seems that way because when the spouse is collecting a retirement benefit, the excess spousal benefit (potentially reduced for taking spousal benefits early) comes into play.
Even if you have already started you own retirement benefit, you have the option to suspend it and start it up again at 70 at a 32 percent higher value.
If you take your retirement benefit at the same time you take a spousal benefit, one of the two benefits will zap the other, either in full or in part.
Now when Sue reaches age 66, she starts to collect an unreduced spousal benefit because Sam has qualified her to do so by filing and suspending for his retirement benefit.
If your spouse is not collecting a retirement benefit when you apply for an early retirement benefit, you will not be deemed to be applying for your spousal benefit.
The retirement benefit collection status of your spouse in the month you file for early retirement benefits determines whether you are deemed to be also be applying for spousal benefits.
Responding to that, Scudder in October rolled out a guaranteed retirement benefit program underwritten by Manulife Financial 's (nyse: MFC - news - people ) Manufacturers Life Insurance.
If you take your spousal benefit early, you will be deemed to be taking your retirement benefit as well with one exception if you have a dependent child in your care.
By starting the Survivor Benefit early, the Surviving Spouse could wait to take his or her retirement benefit, allowing this retirement benefit to earn the delayed retirement credits up to age 70.
The total benefit your spouse will receive is her retirement benefit, inclusive of any reduction, due to taking benefits early, or increment, due to taking benefits late, plus the excess spousal benefit.
You could start your survivor's benefit at age 60, and then flip to your own retirement benefit from age 62 on, although the benefit would be reduced if you started it before your full retirement age.
But there are, in effect, two spousal benefit formulas and which one you the person who will collect a spousal benefit faces will depend on whether or not you take your retirement benefit early.
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