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Show Account won't affect benefits Copley News Service Q. My brother and his wife are concerned about a recent item in their hometown home-town paper. Their interpretation interpre-tation of the article leads them to believe that money in the bank might jeopardize jeopard-ize their Social Security checks. Can you explain the rules on bank accounts? G.G. A. Social Security payments pay-ments are not affected by money in the bank. The ar- tide in question may have been referring to SSI (Supplemental (Sup-plemental Security Income) In-come) payments which are based on need and are affected af-fected by bank accounts, other resources and income. in-come. Regular Social Security checks are affected only by earnings wages andor self-employment income over certain limits. Q. I am a widow who has remarried. I am 60 years old. How can I find out what I'm entitled to from my first husband. Are there any benefits at age 60? Am I entitled to any? At age 62? At age 65? Is this figured fig-ured on my first husband's best five years, last 5 years, or is it averaged? Mrs. D.M. A. Since you are currently current-ly married there are no benefits payable from your first husband's account. If your present marriage should end whether by death, divorce or annulment annul-ment you would be potentially poten-tially entitled to benefits based on your first husband's hus-band's work under Social Security. Contact your local Social Security office for benefit estimates. Q. I will be eligible to receive retirement benefits bene-fits from my federal government gov-ernment job later this year. My husband is covered cov-ered by Social Security and I won't be eligible for payments pay-ments on his account because be-cause of the government pension offset. If I elect to withdraw the money from my government govern-ment retirement fund will this allow me to collect benefits on my husband's account? Mil. A. No! The law states that a spouse's benefits shall be reduced by the amount of any monthly "periodic benefit" ben-efit" payable which is based on the spouse's government gov-ernment earnings. Periodic benefit includes a benefit payable in a lump sum if it is a substitute for periodic payments. Q. For the past two years I have had Medicare hospital insurance but I never signed up for Part B the medical insurance part of Medicare. Can I still get it? C.K. A. Yes, if you sign up between be-tween now and March 31, 1983, your Part B coverage will begin July 1, 1983. The first three months of each year are open enrollment enroll-ment periods for those who neglected to sign up when they were first eligible. For each year that a person per-son delays signing up after being eligible, the monthly premium will increase by 10 percent. Questions on Social Security Se-curity may be sent to Eugene Eu-gene Williams, Social Security, Se-curity, Social Security Office, Off-ice, P.O. Bo 82727, San Diego, CA 92138. |