No. You can only have one as your retirement benefit. Your spouse would file for her/his own benefit.
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.
As a spouse, if you are eligible for benefits on both your own work record and your spouse's work record, you may be required to file for both benefits. We call this requirement “deemed filing,” because when you apply for one benefit, you are required or deemed to file for the other.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) will pay out whichever of those benefits would give them the bigger monthly payment. However, a person can claim their own benefits before their spouse claims theirs, and then apply for a spousal benefit later on.
The spousal benefit can be as much as half of the worker's "primary insurance amount," depending on the spouse's age at retirement. If the spouse begins receiving benefits before "normal (or full) retirement age," the spouse will receive a reduced benefit.
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.
No, if you turn age 62 on or after January 2, 2016, you are required to file for both your own retirement and for any benefits you are due as a spouse, no matter what age you are. This requirement is call deemed filing.
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.
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.
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.
However, your maximum spouse's benefit remains 50% of their full retirement age benefit, not their higher amount including delayed retirement credits. (Your benefit as a surviving spouse would be based on the higher amount.)
Each survivor benefit can be up to 100% of your benefit. The amount may be reduced if the women start benefits before their own full retirement age, but they don't have to share — the amount isn't reduced because you've had more than one spouse.
A Social Security spousal rule that was around for decades ended this year for the last eligible retirees — those who turned 70 on Jan. 1, 2024. The rule allowed recipients to switch between their benefits and their spouses' to receive the maximum amount. But unless you were born before Jan.
Yes. If you qualify for your own retirement and spouse's benefits, we will always pay your own benefits first. If your benefit amount as a spouse is higher than your own retirement benefit, you will get a combination of the two benefits that equals the higher amount.
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.
The $22,924 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook. If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings.
If you've worked and paid Social Security taxes for 10 years or more, you'll get a monthly benefit based on that work.
Social Security covers both spouses, regardless of whether one or both brought home a paycheck over the years. A married person may collect benefits based on their own earnings or receive a maximum of 50% of their spouse's Social Security benefits, whichever is greater.
People are only eligible for a spousal benefit when their own benefit is less than half of their retired spouse's benefit, or when they seek to delay their own application for Social Security benefits based on their own work record.
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 72.5 million Americans will increase 2.5 percent in 2025. Read more about the Social Security Cost-of-Living adjustment for 2025. The maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $176,100.
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).
By waiting until age 70 to start receiving benefits, you've maximized the monthly payment amount. Your benefit amount increases every month you delay until you reach 70 years old.
Generally, the maximum Federal SSI benefit amount changes yearly. SSI benefits increased in 2024 because there was an increase in the Consumer Price Index from the third quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2023. Effective January 1, 2024 the Federal benefit rate is $943 for an individual and $1,415 for a couple.