Why should gay couples get married?
Did you know that 71% of LGBT people are scared they won’t have enough money to live out a happy retirement? For many, survival and spousal benefits are the reasons why gay couples should get married.
One million more reasons why gay couples should get married
It’s scary to think we could run out of money as we age. What can you do to be better prepared? What can you do to have a better LGBT retirement? When you find out, you and your queer partner will want to get married now.
Learn more on this Queer Money:
The Why of Why Gay Couples Should Get Married Now
On this week’s Queer Money™, we’re joined by David Freitag from MassMutual. David brought to our attention a government benefit that you’re already paying for and what just might be the number one reason you should get married . . . and fast. Changes because of marriage equality have opened the door to social security benefits to which we previously did not have access as unmarried LGBT couples.
3 Benefits of Social Security
- Disability – If we become disabled, we can receive payments from the government based on how much we’ve paid into Social Security via FICA taxes.
- Annuity-Like Retirement – We receive payments once we reach retirement age.
- Life Insurance – Our beneficiaries receive payments in certain circumstances once we’ve passed away based on how much we’ve paid into Social Security via FICA taxes.
As couples who couldn’t marry because we are same-sex, we only had access to the disability and retirement benefits but not the life insurance benefit. Marriage equality now gives us access to all Social Security benefits.
Why the spousal benefit is so important for same-sex couples
We pay FICA taxes, often more than we can contribute to 401k or other plans. We must learn to get the most out of these benefits so that we can have a more comfortable retirement.
Spousal benefit has two important components:
- With the spousal benefit, you or your spouse can receive the higher of 50% of either worker’s benefit (whoever worked or whoever earned the most), although you both must be married for 12 months to qualify for this benefit.
- With the survivor benefit, the surviving spouse receives the larger of 100% of theirs or their deceased spouse’s Social Security payment, as long as you’ve been married for, at least, nine months.
Questions answered about why gay couples should get married ASAP
- Where can I find how much my Social Security payment will be at this time?
- How much money would my spouse or I receive in retirement if one of us passes away?
- Is there a financial benefit to getting married?
- Have I contributed enough to get the full Social Security benefit?