The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1476428
C-4 Wednesday, August 17, 2022 The Press-Dispatch EAST GIBSON Submit East Gibson news items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: egnews@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Letters to the Editor SIGNED LETTERS MUST BE RECEIVED BY NOON ON MONDAY Court Report What are my wife's benefits while I'm living and as my widow? Social Security Matters By Rusty Gloor CIVIL DOCKET Pike Circuit Court Capital One Bank sues Julie Hunt for civil collection. Title request for Roger Goeppner. CRIMINAL DOCKET Pike Circuit Court Levi Scott Montgomer y charged with auto theft, a level 6 felony; and false in- forming a class B misdemeanor. L yle Curtis Nolcox charged with oper- ating a vehicle after being a habitual traf- fic offender, a level 6 felony. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANOR Pike Circuit Court Alek D. Dill charged with theft, a class A misdemeanor. Jason A. Woodall charged with oper- ation of a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent or more, a class A misdemeanor. Christian K. Thomas charged with possession of marijuana, a class B misde- meanor. INFRACTIONS Pike Circuit Court Travis M. May charged with driving while suspended. Darlene J. Chanley charged with speeding. Korben A. Parr charged with speeding in a 70 zone. Tabitha G. Benton charged with speed- ing in a 70 zone. Hayden W. McDowell charged with speeding in a 55 zone. Joshua D. Parker charged with speed- ing in a 70 zone. Michel Bello charged with no valid drivers license. David A. Dyjak charged with speeding in a 70 zone. Patrick J. Evans charged with seat belt violation. Lacy D. Huckelby charged with speed- ing in a 55 zone. Christopher M. Rodgers charged with speeding. Carlos E. Dubon Mejia charged with learners permit violation. Kody A. Neu charged with seat belt violation. Alysha M. Decker charged with speed- ing in a 70 zone. David W. Bruce charged with speeding in a 55 zone. Jordan W. Gosciniak charged with speeding in a 55 zone. David A. Johnson charged with speed- ing in a 55 zone. Libby A. Newell charged with speed- ing. Courtney Donte Bramlett charged with speeding in a 70 zone. Madison Rae Misko charged with speeding. Stephen W. Craven charged with speeding in a 70 zone. Jessica Alena Bird charged with no val- id driver's license. Austin S. Martoglio charged with speeding. Randall L. Stemle charged with speed- ing. Caedmon S. Doyle charged with speeding. Kel Von W. Johnson charged with speeding. John E. Hall charged with speeding in a 55 zone. Mia F. Long charged with speeding. AUDIT Continued from page 3 POLITICS Continued from page 3 "Work by former IRS economist Kim Bloomquist points out that the five coun- ties with the highest audit rates are predominantly Af- rican-American, rural coun- ties in the South," the report says. High rates of return from auditing low-income house- holds alongside the average large corporate tax filing totaling nearly 6,000 pages says that our current tax code is far too complex. Instead of increasing tax- payer audits, policymakers should simplify taxes across the board. That way, it would be easier for ever yone to pay the correct amount to the government. prefer Republicans. That one I get; builders hate dealing with Democrats' stupid reg- ulations. Carpenters (64%) give to Democrats; plumbers (60%) to Republicans. Episcopal priests (91%) like Demo- crats; Catholic priests (73%) like Republicans. Can you explain it? If so, please explain it to the rest of us. John Stossel is creator of Stossel TV and author of "Give Me a Break: How I Ex- posed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Me- dia." Dear Rusty: I will be 70 in Januar y and my wife will be 65 in Februar y, at which time we will both go on Medicare. I am currently working, and my approximate Social Security benefit will be around $2,900. My wife was a stay-at-home mom and, therefore, has mini- mal Social Security ben- efits on her own. At 65 she is eligible for $870 and at full retirement age will qualify for $990. A few questions: if she starts to draw benefits at 65, what would be her to- tal spousal benefit? If she waited until her full retirement age, what would the amount be? Of greater concern, what would be her sur vivor benefit given the same criteria as mentioned above. Signed: Planning Ahead. Dear Planning Ahead: Based on the Social Security amounts in your email, your wife is eligible for a spousal benefit while you are both liv- ing. Her spouse ben- efit when she claims will consist of her own Social Security retire- ment benefit plus a spousal boost to bring her payment to her spousal entitle- ment. Spouse benefits are computed using full retirement age (FRA) ben- efit amounts, so if your age 70 bene- fit is "around $2900" then your FRA (age 66) benefit amount (known as your "primar y insurance amount") should be around $2,225. Your wife's base spousal boost would be the dif- ference between her FRA amount and 50 percent of your FRA amount, so her total benefit, if taken at her full retirement age, would be about $1,112 (her $990 plus a $122 spousal boost). But taken at age 65, both her own benefit and her spousal boost would be reduced. At age 65 your wife's total benefit would be around $963 (her own $870 plus a reduced spousal boost of about $93). Regarding your wife's sur vivor benefit as your widow, if she has reached her full retirement age (66 years and 8 months), at your death she would get the same amount you were getting when you died – the $2,900 you will get by claiming at age 70. Your wife's sur vivor benefit as your widow will replace the smaller spousal amount she was receiving while you were both living. Since your wife will be already collecting a spousal benefit from you, if she has reached her FRA when you pass your wife will be automatically awarded her sur vivor benefit at that time. If she hasn't yet reached her FRA when you pass, the spousal portion of her benefit will stop but she can request a reduced sur vivor benefit early. In that case her early sur vivor benefit will be actuarially reduced by .396 percent for each month before her FRA it is claimed. If you were to die in the month your wife turns 65, her early sur vivor benefit would be about $2668. One final thought about Medicare: if you continue to work and have "creditable" healthcare coverage from your employer, you can defer enrolling in Medicare Part B (cov - erage for outpatient ser vices), thus avoiding the Part B premium until you stop working. If your wife is cov- ered under your "creditable" employ- er healthcare plan, she can also defer enrolling in Medicare Part B until that coverage ends ("creditable" is a group plan with at least 20 partic - ipants). However, enrolling in Medi- care Part A (coverage for inpatient hospitalization ser vices), for which there is no premium, is mandator y to collect Social Security after age 65. To submit a question, visit website (amacfoundation.org/programs/so- cial-security-advisor y) or email ssad- visor@amacfoundation.org. TROJANS SCRIMMAGE AT PIKE CENTRAL Above: Trojan tennis player Alton Falls returns a forehand during one of his matches last week in the scrimmage with Pike Central. Right: Wood Memorial's Carter Miller hits a backhand during a preseason scrimmage with Pike Central last Thurs- day.