Social Security Question about Spousal Benefits (55, spouse, marriage, years)

[grlwthprl]

I'm sure this has been asked here before so forgive me.

My husband's social security will be much more than mine. When we retire do we each get our own SS payments and/or is there a way for me to get another 50% of his benefits? I worked very sporadically during our marriage and have very little coming my way. Many thanks in advance!

[alpineprince]

You will each get your own SS payments and yours will be bumped up to equal 50% of his.

[FrugalFox.]

Originally Posted by grlwthprl

I'm sure this has been asked here before so forgive me.

My husband's social security will be much more than mine. When we retire do we each get our own SS payments and/or is there a way for me to get another 50% of his benefits? I worked very sporadically during our marriage and have very little coming my way. Many thanks in advance!

When you file, you are deemed filing for both yours and his SS benefits

This is the method

So lets say your SS benefit at Full Retirement age is $1000
His SS benefit at Full Retirement age is $2100

You get 50% of $2100 which is $1050 at Full Retirement Age (because it is higher than $1000)

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by alpineprince

You will each get your own SS payments and yours will be bumped up to equal 50% of his.

Originally Posted by FrugalFox.

When you file, you are deemed filing for both yours and his SS benefits

This is the method

So lets say your SS benefit at Full Retirement age is $1000
His SS benefit at Full Retirement age is $2100

You get 50% of $2100 which is $1050 at Full Retirement Age (because it is higher than $1000)

only true if she files at her fra ... if she files earlier she always keeps her early benefit so it will total less than 1/2 .. what they do is they take 1/2 her husbands full , subtract her full and any difference is added to her early benefit . if she filed early it will always be less than 1/2 with spousal

[PNW to NEPA]

I'm in the same situation, half of my husband's benefit will be more than my full benefit. As others have said, you'll receive your benefit plus a spousal add-on to bring your total benefit up to half of his. It can never exceed half of his, and can be less if you file early.

The actual amounts are complicated by either of you taking benefits before full retirement age... but the basic principle is pretty simple.

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by PNW to NEPA

I'm in the same situation, half of my husband's benefit will be more than my full benefit. As others have said, you'll receive your benefit plus a spousal add-on to bring your total benefit up to half of his. It can never exceed half of his, and can be less if you file early.

The actual amounts are complicated by either of you taking benefits before full retirement age... but the basic principle is pretty simple.

pre fra if the lower spouse has their own record it is not really complex ...

if she files at 62 and gets 800 dollars but her full is 1200 dollars and her husband gets 2800 at fra then they take :

1/2 her husbands full which is 1400 , shey subtract her full which is 1200 and the 200 remaining is added to her 800 early benefit so she would get 1000 which is less than 1/2 since she filed early.

if she had no record of her own and they both filed early there is a chart ....

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/quickcalc/earlyretire.html

[nicet4]

Lot's and lots of questions asked over and over again right here but that shouldn't be a problem because we have new people showing up all the time.

Not sure if you have a specific question but here is a start.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/quickcalc/spouse.html

Let's assume your birthday is June 15, 1955.

You want to start collecting your spousal benefit in April, 2020.

You will reach your full retirement age in August, 2021 so by collecting early you will lose some.

You choose to receive benefits 16 months before normal retirement age. Your benefit will be 44.45 percent of the worker's primary insurance amount.

If your spouse is to receive $2,000 you will receive $889 or $111 less.

How Collecting Early Retirement Affects Spousal Dependents and Survivors Benefits

Edit!

Wow, you guys are fast!

When I saw the question, welcome aboard grlwthprl, there were zero answers so I formulate my answer, take a little break for another cup of coffee and when I come back there's already five answers!

I'm now 70 collecting benefits, I have been around this forum for ten years now and a lot about retirement and what I have learned has come from right here. Good job everyone!

[grlwthprl]

To keep it simple: What if we take SS at the same time? Will I get 1/2 of his. My husband wants to work until age 70.

[FrugalFox.]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

only true if she files at her fra ... if she files earlier she always keeps her early benefit so it will total less than 1/2 .. what they do is they take 1/2 her husbands full , subtract her full and any difference is added to her early benefit . if she filed early it will always be less than 1/2 with spousal

Yes, I added a disclaimer about that, one sentence regarding benefit being reduced, but decided to edit to remove it. Didn't want to confuse her or jump out of my comfort level



So that means if she files at 62, her FRA benefit of $1000 would now be about $700
His FRA (full retirement benefit) would be $2100 but reduced to about $735.
So she'd get the larger amount of $735 eh?

[FrugalFox.]

Originally Posted by grlwthprl

To keep it simple: What if we take SS at the same time? Will I get 1/2 of his. My husband wants to work until age 70.

How old are you and how old is he? meaning what is your age gap?