You always hear that walking down the aisle has financial benefits.
If you are lower income, dont just assume that getting married will make your financial life better.
Because in all reality, its likely to make things harder until you reach a certain income level.
Think that asset test sounds unfair? There is currently abill in Congressthat would up the asset test limits to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for couples – if and only if it passes.
Today were going to take a deep dive into how each of these scenarios can pan out.
Because you earned peanuts, the benefits in your own name would be peanuts.
But you could claim survivor benefits based on the spouses income.
Probably not as good as youd like.
It always seems like an uphill battle to build (and keep) a decent amount in savings.
But what if your car breaks down, or you have a sudden medical bill?
Ask one of these companies to help…
There is a way to avoid this remarriage penalty, though it involves waiting to exchange vows.
Disabled people can get remarried from age 50 onward without losingspousal survivor benefits.
Everyone else needs to wait until age 60 to walk down the aisle sans penalty.
Marriage is less common at lower tax brackets.
They paid less tax, but got the higher benefit.
Some people are unable to work due to their disability.
Others may find themselves having to limit their income so that qualify for life-sustaining healthcare through Medicaid.
Did you know?
These are items and services not typically covered under private insurance.
They allow people to live inside their community and outside of specialized institutions.
Whether or not youre disabled yourself, this is an issue we should all care about.
Many people qualify for Medicaid based on their SSI eligibility.
In order toqualify for SSIas an individual, you could only make $1,470 a month.
When you get married, those income and benefit thresholds dont double.
In fact, they decrease by 25%.
That means if two disabled people got married, theyd actually see a decrease in total SSI benefits.
Lest you think living together outside the bonds of matrimony is a solution, know that it is not.
The government gets all Men In Black about it.
If the household income is too high, that could mean losing access to your life-sustaining healthcare.
Even referring to someone publicly as your partner is something many people are afraid of, Lewis said.
You may not be able to work because you simply cant work.
These programs still have limits, but theyre more generous than SSI.
Not everyone can move.
Its also important to note that having access to Medicaid coverage does not necessarily equal access to care.
Depending on the community, you might have coverage but no service providers, which defeats the point.
Be sure to do your research before hiring a moving company.
People on DAC are allowed to pretend theyre married.
However, they are rarely allowed to have the real thing.
There are few exceptions, Lewis said, like you’re able to marry another person receiving DAC.
A big one for lower- to moderate-income Americans is theEarned Income Tax Credit(EITC).
It started off to benefit families with children, Steuerle said.
Single people were largely left out.
Later on, they included a childless worker credit at low levels.
Few people qualify for it, and its not very large.
That evolution is creating a number of problems.
For example, lets say youre a heterosexual couple with two young children back in 2021.
Youre not yet married, but considering taking the leap.
The mother earns $3,000 a month, for a total annual income of $36,000.
The other parent files as a single tax filer.
But if you got married?
The EITC would have bumped down to a grand total of $1,867 or $1,176 less.
It creates all these problems.
The biggest problem is I think weve gone overboard in terms of the impact on marriage penalties and bonuses.
She is a regular contributor to The Penny Hoarder.
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