One more thing - when you do claim at 70, make sure you understand how your benefits will be taxed. Depending on your other income sources, up to 85% of your Social Security can be subject to federal income tax. Many people don't plan for this and get surprised at tax time. Your state may also tax SS benefits differently.

To answer your specific question about finding this on the website: The tool you want is called the "Retirement Estimator" which you can find here: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.html When you log in with your my Social Security credentials, you can see estimates based on different claiming ages. There's also an option to enter custom earnings amounts for future years where you could enter zeros. If you want even more detail, you can download the "Detailed Calculator" software mentioned earlier, but for most people, the online tool provides sufficient information.

my mom has the same problem (shes from philippines originally) no payment yet. but my uncle got his (hes citizen) so i was thinking maybe its for immigrants only? glad to hear its not that. still nothing in her account today tho

UPDATE: My payment just posted this morning! So it was about 48 hours late. Check your accounts - hopefully your husband's payment has arrived too!

A lot of misinformation in this thread. The spousal benefit isn't always 50%. That's just the maximum. The actual formula is more complicated and takes into account whether you're eligible for your own retirement benefit, when you file, and whether the WEP/GPO rules apply. Calling SSA directly is your best bet. Ask them for a breakdown of your benefit calculation. They can tell you exactly how your benefit was determined and whether there are any options to increase it. You might need to speak with a technical benefits advisor though, not just the first person who answers the phone.

One more thing to consider - if your husband passes away, you would become eligible for survivor benefits, which can be up to 100% of what he was receiving (depending on your age when you claim them). So while your current spousal benefit might seem low, the survivor benefit would be significantly higher. If your husband is in good health, you might want to discuss having him delay taking his own benefits as long as possible (up to age 70) to maximize the eventual survivor benefit you'd receive if he passes before you. Each year he delays past his FRA increases his benefit by 8%, which also increases the survivor benefit you'd eventually receive.

btw have u checked if ur eligible for medicare yet? u might qualify before 65 if ur on disability

One final clarification - I notice some confusion in the thread about exactly when SSDI converts to retirement benefits. To be precise: 1. If you're receiving SSDI, benefits automatically convert to retirement benefits when you reach your Full Retirement Age (FRA) 2. For people born 1960 or later, FRA is age 67 3. For people born 1959, FRA is 66 and 10 months 4. For people born 1958, FRA is 66 and 8 months Since you mentioned you're 59 now, you were likely born around 1966, so your FRA would be 67. That's when the automatic conversion will happen. Again, the amount stays exactly the same - there's no reduction when SSDI converts to retirement benefits at FRA.

My friend says shes getting 3700 a month from social security, is that even possible??? seems way too high

Thanks everyone for the great responses! This has been incredibly helpful. Just to summarize what I've learned: 1. Yes, the SSA will recalculate my benefit even before FRA if my current earnings replace a lower year 2. Any increase will still be reduced by my early claiming penalty 3. The earnings test reduction is temporary and gets factored back in at FRA 4. The recalculation happens automatically each year For anyone else wondering about this - this thread has great info! I'm going to try calling SSA to confirm my specific situation. If I can't get through I'll check out that Claimyr service mentioned above.