Women need to understand their Social Security benefit…but that’s not all!
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: November 3, 2023
One of the biggest mistakes people make is simply not taking the time or waiting too long to understand how the retirement system works. If you’re worried that you won’t have enough money to last throughout a longer lifetime, take action by doing something about it. According to a 2016 survey, only 40 percent of workers have gotten an estimate of their Social Security benefit amount and only 17 percent have a written financial plan.
While all Americans need to plan for their financial futures, it is especially important for women. Women face unique financial challenges like longer life spans, the fact that we traditionally earn less than men, and differing employment patterns from men. Women are more likely to work part-time and spend time out of the paid workforce to care for loved ones. These all usually lower women’s Social Security benefits and overall savings.
Women need to know the amount of their future benefits, and make sure they know the best time to retire. Married women need to know how widowhood and divorce affect their benefits. An easy way to do this is to sign up for a my Social Security account, and use your Social Security Statement as a planning tool.
Social Security provides the foundation, but you need to have other sources of income such as a work-based retirement savings plan. What about personal IRAs or other savings/investment accounts? If you are married, don’t forget to find out what retirement accounts your spouse has as well. The Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) has a worksheet Get Your Ducks in a Row to help you get started.
Do you know all the benefits you may be eligible for through your employer? A typical benefits package is often worth up to 25 percent of an employee’s income, and can include health, retirement, disability, life, long-term care, and flexible spending accounts. Read WISER’s brochure, 20 Ways to Take Advantage of Your Company Benefits Plan to learn more.
Finally, with tax season underway, now is the perfect time to get started. Grab those W2 forms to see how much money you are actually living off of each year, and then figure out how you, with Social Security benefits and other resources, can maintain financial security throughout your life’s journey. For additional resources, visit www.wiserwomen.org and Social Security’s People Like Me – Women’s page.
Cindy Hounsell chounsell@wiserwomen.org, is the President of the Washington D.C.- based Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER,) a nonprofit organization to improve opportunities for women to secure retirement income and to educate the public about the inequities affecting women in retirement.
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Tags: Disability, retirement, Social Security benefits
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becky m.
im turning 62 in January. can I draw on previous husband benefits since he made more money than my current husband?
what do I need to do to be started on my benefits?
Vonda V.
Hi Becky, thank you using the blog. If you remarry, you generally cannot collect benefits on your former spouse’s record unless your later marriage ends (whether by death, divorce, or annulment). See Retirement Planner: If You Are Divorced for more information.
Pamela s.
wife of 35 years. Multiple sclerosis so I’m unable to work receiving disability. Very small $$. Can I collect of from my husbands social security? ???
I am 56 he is 60.
He is Currently unemployed desperately searching for a job. AGE DISCRIMINATION (in his field. )
Thank u.
Ray F.
Thank you for your question, Pamela. You may be able to get spouse’s retirement benefits if you are at least 62 years of age and your spouse is receiving retirement or disability benefits.
The earliest age a person can apply for their (reduced) retirement benefits is 62.
Susan W.
I am needing to know if I would qualify for any benefits since my husband is on disability. I am working full time.
Ray F.
Hello Susan, you may be able to get spouse’s retirement benefits if you are at least 62 years of age and your spouse is receiving retirement or disability benefits. You can still work while you receive Social Security benefits. However, if you are younger than full retirement age and make more than the yearly earnings limit, your earnings may reduce your benefit amount. Visit our Benefits Planner: Getting Benefits While Working for more information. Thanks!
Judith A.
I need to know if my ex-husbands benefits are more than mine. I have never remarried and I was thinking of trying to get a higher benefit than I get now! Is this possible?
Charles A.
can my wife draw part of my social security benefits while I am still alive ?
Ray F.
Hello Charles, your wife may be able to get benefits if she is at least 62 years of age and you are receiving or eligible for retirement or disability benefits. Your spouse can also qualify for Medicare at age 65. See our Benefits Planner for more.
deb
i am sixty five and remarried two yrs ago, my husband is 59 not yet retired. I took my social security in 2017 , can I draw my present husband social security even though he is not retired yet? deb
Scott H.
My wife is older than I by almost 2 years. She would like to retire soon. If she retires and files for S.S., can she draw her S.S. then reestablish her S.S. after I file and start to withdraw?
Alongamento d.
ISSN 0034-8910. Brasília: MS, 2000.
2009;11(1):32-8. http://Tenderfootpottery.com/
Adriana
Why is it that my husbands ex wife ho never, ever, in her entire life worked one hour, or contributed to SS with $1 (in her life) and finally divorced him 15 years ago, is now, after he (my husband), gave her two houses, for her to live in one, and rent the other house as to receive an income for the rest of her life, without still working, and she in now waiting for him to retire at age 67 and expects that the SS will pay her a retirement amount based on her ex husbands retirement amount (after 15 years divorced), while he, my husband had to start all over again and is currently paying a mortgage were he owes more than 90% of the house value, and I his wife for 20 years need to continue working until 67 to receive maybe the same amount than his ex wife who never worked, who received 2 houses, and now is seeking for SS retirement income. Isn’t that gross? Unethically disturbing? Unfair above all logic?
I would understand if the poor ex wife was left with nothing and is sick therefore could not work to wait 20 years until his ex husband retires and then she could receive something, but if she is golfing, and playing tennis, and going to the beach all day, not counting her extensive travels overseas, why on earth then has the SS to pay his ex wife nothing, while by the other hand SS constantly claims that there is no money left for the next 20 years for the truly workers?
Somebody needs to explain this to me.!!! Thank you,
YouMan
Everything that you wrote in this column applies to men just as much as it applies to women. I’m a man, but if I were a woman, I’d be insulted by the condescending tone of this blog post. Everything about this blog post infers that women are intellectually inferior to men which, of course, is not true.