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Should a Housewife Get Social Security Credits?

Should a Housewife Get Social Security Credits?
One big reason the "earnings sharing" proposal never went anywhere is the negative impact it would have on a married couple's potential benefits. Fei Meng
Tom Margenau
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People frequently write to me with an idea to change Social Security law in some way that they think is clever and unique. But I usually must tell them that their proposal has been considered in the past.

After all, Social Security has been around for 80 years now, and for all of those eight decades, people have been coming up with plans that they think would improve the system. And lots of times, those plans don’t work out under closer scrutiny. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.

Tom Margenau
Tom Margenau
Author
Tom Margenau worked for 32 years in a variety of positions for the Social Security Administration before retiring in 2005. He has served as the director of SSA’s public information office, the chief editor of more than 100 SSA publications, a deputy press officer and spokesman, and a speechwriter for the commissioner of Social Security. For 12 years, he also wrote Social Security columns for local newspapers, and recently published the book “Social Security: Simple and Smart.” If you have a Social Security question, contact him at [email protected]
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