A wife with no work record or low benefit entitlement on her own work record is eligible for between one-third and one-half of her spouse's Social Security benefit.
Work History: If a stay-at-home mom has worked and paid Social Security taxes for at least 40 quarters (about 10 years), she is eligible for her own Social Security benefits based on her earnings.
The percentage of your spouse's full retirement benefit that you receive could be as little as 32.5% at age 62. It steps up gradually to 50% as you near your full retirement age, which is 65, 66, or 67, depending on your birth year.
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.
Is a spouse a dependent? We get the question, “Can I claim my spouse as a dependent?” from time to time – and here's the short answer: you can't claim spouses as dependents on your federal income tax return.
You may qualify for benefits on your spouse's Social Security earnings record if: You are 62 or older. Or, you are younger but caring for a child under 16 or a child with disabilities who is under 19. Your spouse is elgible for retirement benefits (62 or older)
Even if you have never worked in a job covered by Social Security, as a parent, there are two ways that you may still be eligible for benefits. If you are a parent and take care of your child who receives Social Security benefits and is under age 18, you can get benefits until your child reaches age 16.
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.
If you have never worked and therefore never paid any National Insurance through your salary, you won't typically be eligible for any State Pension.
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 the spouses divorced, the marriage must have lasted 10 years. 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.
If you don't have enough Social Security credits to get benefits on your own work record or your own benefit is small, you may be able to receive benefits as a spouse. Your spouse must be receiving benefits for you to get benefits on their work record.
If you've reached your full retirement age, you can receive 100% of your spouse's disability benefits. If you're between 50 and 59 and you also have a disability, you can receive 71.5% percent of your spouse's benefits.
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).
Just because you don't bring home a paycheck doesn't mean you're not working. A stay-at-home parent can get a Social Security check just like any other worker.
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.
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.
Although many of the programs base benefit amounts and eligibility to work history, there are some instances where a person who has never worked can collect benefits. One program that provides benefits to people, not based on their work history, is Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
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.
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.
Married Filing Jointly. If you are married, you and your spouse can choose to file a joint return. If you file jointly, you both must include all your income, deductions, and credits on that return. You can file a joint return even if one of you had no income or deductions.