A married spouse without an earnings record (or whose record would result in a lower Social Security payment) can collect on his or her spouse's earnings record when his or her spouse turns 62. Collecting Social Security at 62 has some advantages.
Consider this example: Sandy is eligible for a monthly retirement benefit of $1,000 and a spouse's benefit of $1,250. If she waits for Social Security until her full retirement age, she will receive her own $1,000 retirement benefit. We will add $250 from her spouse's benefit, for a total of $1,250 a month.
If you are married and you and your spouse have worked and earned enough credits individually, you will each get your own Social Security benefit.
Under this strategy, the spouse with the lower earnings records starts benefits between age 62 and full retirement age, while the other spouse (with the higher earnings record) delays benefits until age 70 so they can collect the highest possible benefit.
For a spouse who is not entitled to benefits on his or her own earnings record, this reduction factor is applied to the base spousal benefit, which is 50 percent of the worker's primary insurance amount.
The maximum spousal benefit is 50% of the other spouse's full benefit. You may be eligible if you're married, divorced, or widowed. You can collect spousal benefits as early as age 62, but in most cases, the benefits are permanently reduced if you start collecting before your full retirement age.
The first exception, which can be deemed as the Social Security spousal benefits loophole, works where an individual who remarries at 60 or later may still be entitled to Social Security survivors' benefits if the second marriage ends before the death of the first spouse.
Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.
If you've been married multiple times, your current and former spouses could be eligible for Social Security benefits based on your earnings record, subject to certain requirements.
Spouses and ex-spouses
Payments start at 71.5% of your spouse's benefit and increase the longer you wait to apply. For example, you might get: Over 75% at age 61.
A spouse who has never worked in paid jobs or has not worked to earn sufficient credits to be eligible for his/her own retired worker benefits can receive a spousal benefit that is 50 percent of the eligible worker's full benefit.
This is good news when former spouses are not on good terms. Your ex cannot “block” you from drawing your spousal benefit. In fact, he probably won't even know if you are drawing off him unless he calls SSA to ask.
To qualify to get $144 added back to your Social Security check, you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan that offers a Part B premium reduction or giveback benefit.
Exactly how much in earnings do you need to get a $3,000 benefit? Well, you just need to have averaged about 70% of the taxable maximum. In our example case, that means that your earnings in 1983 were about $22,000 and increased every year to where they ended at about $100,000 at age 62.
If your spouse dies, do you get both Social Security benefits? You cannot claim your deceased spouse's benefits in addition to your own retirement benefits. Social Security only will pay one—survivor or retirement. If you qualify for both survivor and retirement benefits, you will receive whichever amount is higher.
The Social Security 5-year rule refers specifically to disability benefits. It requires that you must have worked five out of the last ten years immediately before your disability onset to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
Form SSA-2 | Information You Need to Apply for Spouse's or Divorced Spouse's Benefits. You can apply: Online, if you are within 3 months of age 62 or older, or. By calling our national toll-free service at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) or visiting your local Social Security office.
Key Takeaways
The maximum Social Security spousal benefit is equal to 50% of a worker's Social Security payment at full retirement age. Early retirement reduces benefits for workers and their spouses and ex-spouses. Understanding your eligibility can help you maximize this benefit.
Either spouse can maximize their regular Social Security benefit amount by waiting past their full-retirement age to apply, up to age 70. Benefits generally increase 8% each year filing is delayed.
If your spouse is not receiving any retirement benefits yet, then you could technically take your regular Social Security benefit as early as age 62. When your spouse files for their benefit later you could switch to spousal benefits.
This is 66 or 67 for most people, depending on your birth. But there's a third option: Delay benefits until age 70. In doing so, you can get a Social Security bonus in the form of a higher benefit amount. The bonus is worth roughly 8% more each year you delay benefits past full retirement age.
The spouse that wants to collect Social Security must have been married for 10 years or longer. This does not mean 10 years from the date of marriage to the date of separation, this means 10 years from the date of marriage to the date of the dissolution.