Congress slashing social security

I read this before. A good indication of what increments by Democrats stands for.

A remarkably vague article.

I concur.

"If you are married....call your Social Security clerk now make a simple six-word request, and immediately raise your income by an extra $1,329 a month."

Or it is a "mostly false" story that has been debunked on Snopes.

In fact, the pending changes are relatively minor: they do not take away any existing benefits or alter core Social Security benefits or payment levels, they are not "hidden" or "radical," and they do not "threaten the financial security" of millions of Americans. The coming changes will alter or eliminate a few strategies used by some people to maximize their Social Security benefits, however, so those in a position to take advantage of them while they still exist need to know how they can be "grandfathered" in.

The first change applies to Social Security's "file and suspend" strategy, which allowed couples to maximize their combined benefits by having one spouse file for Social Security upon reaching full retirement age (currently 66), then immediately suspending the benefits. This allowed the other spouse to claim a spousal benefit while their deferred Social Security grew 8 percent per year until age 70:

The file-and-suspend strategy will no longer work after May 1, 2016. At that time, a person must file for Social Security and actually receive benefits in order for a husband or wife to get a spousal benefit.

However, for those who are at least 66 or who will turn 66 by April 30, 2016, there is still an opportunity to get in under the old file-and-suspend system. Those who do squeak in under the deadline will be grandfathered in under the old file-and-suspend rules.

Another change will eliminate "restricted applications," a mechanism that allows persons who are between full retirement age and age 70 to file an application to claim spousal benefits but defer collecting their own benefits; upon reaching 70, they change from receiving spousal benefits to receiving their own (larger) benefits:

In the future, when a

Another incremental benefit.

Thanks for summarizing the changes.