Can I collect Social Security spousal benefits at 70 while still working? Ex-spouse situation

Good news! Working past FRA (Full Retirement Age, which is 66 and 4 months for you) doesn't reduce your Social Security benefits at all. There's no penalty for working while collecting after FRA. Since you're planning to wait until 70, you'll get your maximum possible benefit - 132% of your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). As for your ex-spouse benefits, you can claim those if they would pay more than your own benefits. Since you were married over 10 years and haven't remarried, you qualify. The key is that your ex-spouse must be at least 62, which he is. You don't even need to wait for him to file for his own benefits. I was in a similar situation last year and found it impossible to get anyone on the phone at SSA to explain my options. After weeks of trying, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU showing how it works. Totally worth it to get a real person who could look at my specific situation.

YOU CANNOT SEPARATE CLAIMS ANYMORE! The rules changed in 2015 with the Bipartisan Budget Act. Before that, you could claim spousal/ex-spousal benefits at FRA and then switch to your own at 70. Now when you file, it's deemed filing for ALL benefits you're eligible for. They just give you whichever is higher. The SSA website is STILL confusing on this point!!! I wasted months thinking I could do the old strategy only to find out it was eliminated YEARS ago. SO FRUSTRATING dealing with this system!

Hi there! So many people get confused about how ex-spouse benefits work. Here's what you need to know: 1. Since you're not yet 70, your best strategy is to wait until then to file for benefits. This maximizes your own retirement benefit with delayed retirement credits. 2. When you file at 70, you'll automatically be eligible for either your own benefit or 50% of your ex's PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), whichever is higher. 3. Important note: The 50% of your ex's benefit does NOT include any delayed retirement credits he might earn by waiting past his FRA. 4. Working after your FRA has no impact on your benefits - earn as much as you want! 5. Alimony has no effect on Social Security benefits. Based on what you shared about working part-time during your marriage, there's a good chance your own benefit at age 70 will be higher than the ex-spouse benefit, especially with those 4 years of delayed retirement credits (8% per year!).

my neighbor tried to do what ur talking about and it was a mess lol. she thought she could get benefits from her ex husband who made way more $ than her but ended up with less somehow? something about WEP reduction because she had a government pension too idk the details

Wait till 70. No penalties for working then. I'm still working at 72 and get full SS.

I was in a VERY similar situation two years ago! Married 19 years, divorced for 11, and wondering about my ex's higher earnings. I called Social Security SO MANY TIMES and kept getting conflicting information. I finally scheduled an in-person appointment (took 2 months to get in!) and the agent was super helpful. My advice - get an appointment with SSA to discuss your specific situation. The online calculators DON'T account for ex-spouse benefits correctly, at least in my experience. And yes, working after your FRA won't affect your benefits at all! Also, make sure to get your earnings record from SSA and check it for accuracy. I found TWO years where my earnings weren't properly recorded, and fixing that increased my benefit by almost $175/month!!!

my aunt just went threw this she ended up just waiting till 70 and got the higher amount its way less complicated

Be sure you create a my Social Security account online if you haven't already. You can see your estimated benefits there.

The Social Security system is DELIBERATELY CONFUSING! I spent 20+ hours researching my options and still got it wrong. The only way to get accurate information is to talk to someone at SSA who can see your specific records and your ex's info too. Good luck getting through to them though - I tried for WEEKS! One thing to know - they won't tell you exactly what your ex makes/made, but they CAN tell you what your benefit would be based on his record. It's ridiculous that their online systems can't calculate this automatically!

I know several people mentioned calling SSA is difficult, and it really is these days. When I was trying to sort out my own benefits (with a similar ex-spouse situation), I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent. They have this system that navigates the phone menus and waits on hold for you, then calls you when an agent is on the line. Their video demo (https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU) shows how it works. Saved me hours of frustration and the agent was able to calculate exactly what my options were with specific numbers rather than generalities.

A couple more points that might help you: 1. Your alimony has zero impact on Social Security benefits - they're completely separate systems. 2. If your ex passes away before you (hopefully not!), the rules change completely. As a surviving divorced spouse, you'd be eligible for survivor benefits which could be up to 100% of what he was receiving or eligible to receive. 3. Since you're planning to work until 70+, each additional year of higher earnings can potentially replace a lower-earning year in your benefit calculation. Social Security uses your highest 35 years of earnings (indexed for inflation). 4. When you eventually speak with SSA, ask them to calculate both your projected benefit at 70 based on your earnings AND what your ex-spouse benefit would be. That way you'll know exactly which will be higher. Hope this helps!