Hello MrNagaich,

My 77 year-old husband, has been retired and drawing Social Security for several years. I am 67 years-old and still working full-time and will probably work until at least age 68. I was told by a financial manager that I could continue working full time and apply now for half of my husband’s Social Security benefit and yet he would still continue to receive his usual monthly payment. That seems odd to me and I wondered if indeed that is true? It sounds too good to be true. And if so, then could I switch over to applying for my earned benefit without penalty when I turn 68 years old?

Ruth F~

Dear Ruth,

Every now and then the old adage ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’ isn’t always true. The financial manager is correct. You can elect to take 50 percent of your husband’s benefits while he continues collecting his own. Meanwhile this allows your benefits to continue increasing. At age 68 or any time after that, but not beyond age 70, you can go back and switch to your own if those benefits are higher. My suggestion for you would be to wait until age 70 before you take your own benefits. This will allow your benefits to be as high as they can be. Women generally outlive men and so incomes are important to protect for a time when you might have to make do with only your own income.

Here’s how it works. Your full retirement age is 66 if you were born between 1943 and 1954. Once you reach age 66 and your spouse has filed for his/her own benefit, you can either claim your own Social Security benefits or half of your spouse’s benefits. If you choose to collect your spouse’s benefit and delay receiving your retirement benefits until a later time, your retirement benefit grows by 8 percent each year until you reach age 70, at which point your retirement benefit will be paid at 132% per month. You can only do this if you wait until full retirement to start benefits.

Rajiv.

Dear Rajiv,

I am caring for my elderly mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 5 years ago. Right now, she lives with me, my husband, and our 10 year old son. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to keep her at home because I work full-time and she is reaching the stage where she can be very paranoid and distressed. I would like to have her go to an assisted living/Alzheimer’s care facility as opposed to a nursing home because, like most Alzheimer’s patients, she is not physically sick. The issue is, of course, money. She has about $2187 per month income from a combination of RSDI and Teacher Retirement. She has no other liquid resources. Her out-of-pocket medications run about $250 per month. My father served in World War II. Can you tell me a little bit more about what might be available through VA and any other options I may not have considered?

Dear Martha: thank you for your inquiry. I am providing some general guidance for you though for more specific information you may want to consider making an appointment with an elder law attorney to narrow down your choices.

There are two different programs that might allow you some long term care benefits. One is the COPES program (a joint federal and state program) and the other is through the VA system.

The COPES program is the more generous of the two and will allow you to access care in any facility of your choice, including your own home. There’s no reason to think that Medicaid will force your mom into a nursing home. The first step I would suggest you take is to work with either a placement agency or a geriatric care manager, either of which can look at your mom’s present and future needs and identify and narrow down housing choices in the community that would be appropriate for your mom. Most placement agencies do not charge for their services as they are paid a commission from the place that is ultimately chosen but because they get paid on commission, they are not as likely to take on Medicaid beneficiaries. Ideally, you do not want your mom to have to move after she moves the first time, so it is important that you are careful in selecting where your mom is moved. Once you have decided on the place where she will go you will then apply for the CPOES program. The program is generally only available to those who have no more than $2,000 to their name (with certain exceptions) and whose income is less than the cost of care. Once qualified, the program will pay for the difference in your mother’s cost of care and her income (while allowing her to keep a monthly needs allowance of about $62 per month for personal needs), but limited to the amount the state determines is the appropriate reimbursement rate to the facility that is going to provide for mom’s needs.

VA benefits, unlike the COPES benefits, will add about either $1,094 (if your mom qualifies as the widow of a qualified veteran) or $1,704 per month (if she herself is a qualified veteran) to her income to help her cover uncovered long term care costs. Unlike COPES, the VA program does not provide for the entire cost to be covered. The supplemental amount may or may not be enough for her to find the right place. You need to be aware that as her needs increase the costs associated with her care will go up. Eventually, you are looking at having to access Medicaid benefits. COPES will allow your mother to access care at either your home, in an adult family home, an assisted living community, boarding home or memory care community.

A word about the places where mom will access care. Bottom line about all of these housing options is that none of them are really home, but a place where your mom will have supervision and be safe. It will be your commitment that will allow her to have a good quality of life. Some places are better than others in providing for their resident’s needs. Between your job and your mom you have your hands full. Hence my recommendation that you invest a bit of money to get the right guidance and figure out not only the money angle but the care angle as well. It will allow you to sleep easier.

Hope this short answer helps. There are a lot of variables that need to be coordinated and the variables are based on your mother’s present and foreseeable needs; her finances and housing preferences based on which a plan would need to be developed for her to qualify for VA and/or COPES benefits while understanding how to supplement the benefits thereunder. You really should start with consulting a good lifeplanner (an elder law attorney who is connected with social workers, financial workers and who understands how to access various professions) to give you a one stop shop to get your answers from.

Rajiv.

Rajiv Nagaich is an elder law attorney, whose practice focuses on coordinated planning around health, housing, financial and legal issues. The goal is to help clientsmanage their personal or parental elder care needs. He has law offices in Federal Way, Bellevue and Edmonds, and discusses these issues with listeners on the air each Saturdayfrom 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on KTTH AM 770. This information is made available for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice and should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.