The penalty is not getting married per se,
but marrying and setting work arrangements
such that joint income exceeds the income
of the beneficiary family(s).
The phase-out for a family (married or no)
with children starts at $12,500 and ends
between $26K and $30K. So insofar as your
combined income spills over $12,500, you
start to lose benefits, and if over $30K,
you become ineligible.
So to retain all your benefits you need a
house-spouse who works (or whateva) at home.
mbs
I'd be interested to know the income brackets that are getting nailed. I
know that if you're low income and collecting the earned income tax credit
getting married is a penalty -- which is the irony since they supposedly
want to encourage the heathen poor to shack up legally.
kelley
