Difference between SS benefits of your own and from your spouse? (spouses, social security)

[misterno]

Is there a huge difference?

[mathjak107]

not enough info given .

at what age ?

does spouse have a work record of their own ?

spousal is 1/2 the higher earning spouses full amount but there are adjustments depending on age .

[misterno]

me 46 years
wife 42 years


wife never worked


so if she gets disabled does she ever get paid SSDI?

[mathjak107]

ssdi is different than retirement social security and has different rules .

" you have never worked, you cannot claim Social Security disability insurance (SSDI). SSDI eligibility criteria require that you have worked long enough and recently enough to be insured for Social Security disability. Insured status for Social Security disability is based upon the wages that are reported by the IRS to an individual’s earnings record each year. An individual can earn up to four quarters of coverage per year, and if they have enough quarters of coverage (usually 20) and enough of those quarters occurred in the past ten years, they should be insured for Social Security disability insurance."


http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/page10-10.html#

https://www.ssa.gov/planners/disability/dqualify7.html

[Hemlock140]

We have both worked since our teens, but there has always been a big income difference, and she took time off with each of the 3 kids being born. When we reach full SS age in 2-3 years, mine will be about 3 times hers, so she will take the 50% of my amount.

[mathjak107]

if she has her own work record she gets her own benefit regardless of age now .

what she gets when you file is the difference between 1/2 your full and her full added to her benefit .

as long as she is full retirement age she will get an amount that equals 1/2 your full . it is just calculated different since she does not actually ever get anything but her own as a base amount .

[GeoffD]

My "defer to age 70" number: $42,936
My girlfriend's "defer to age 70" number: $38,196

She's 2 1/2 years younger than me and her FRA is 67 where I'm 66 8 months. I have more high income years that also nudge it up a bit.

From a survivor benefits point of view, there appears to be no advantage to ever getting married unless one of us dies young and it's not very much money even in that case. From a tax planning point of view, there's a disadvantage to ever getting married once you add in IRA/401(k) required minimum distributions.

[mlb]

He will have more because I worked the bulk of my career in a governmental entity that does not contribute to SS.

I'll take home about $1100 - he'll take home $1275 - a month.

[Nausikaa]

Originally Posted by misterno

me 46 years
wife 42 years


wife never worked


so if she gets disabled does she ever get paid SSDI?

She could start work now, since she is only 42. Then would be covered later if she needed it.

[oldsoldier1976]

if she has no work history than she would not be able to get SSDI unless she has been on it since she was a child under her parents work history.