Can I collect spousal benefits from my husband who took SS early while I'm at FRA?
My husband and I are trying to maximize our Social Security income but I'm confused about spousal benefits. He claimed his retirement benefits early at 62 (about 4 years ago) and took that 30% reduction. I just turned 66 last month, which is my full retirement age. I'm already collecting my own retirement benefit based on my work history, but it's less than his even with his reduction. Can I switch to a spousal benefit based on his higher amount even though we're both already collecting? If so, how much would I get - 50% of what he would've gotten at full retirement age or 50% of his reduced benefit? The SSA website is confusing me with all these different rules!
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Liam Fitzgerald
you cant get both benefits at the same time if thats what ur asking. its either ur own benefit OR a spousal benefit, whichever is higher
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Mei Lin
•Thanks for responding. So even though I'm already receiving my own benefit, I could potentially switch to the spousal benefit if it's higher? Do you know if I'd get 50% of what his full benefit would have been, or 50% of what he's actually getting after the reduction?
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GalacticGuru
To clarify what happens in your situation: you don't actually "switch" to spousal benefits. What happens is that if your spousal benefit would be higher than your own retirement benefit, SSA will pay your own benefit plus the difference to bring you up to the spousal benefit amount. The maximum spousal benefit is 50% of your husband's Primary Insurance Amount (what he would have received at his full retirement age, before any reductions). The fact that he took benefits early doesn't reduce your spousal benefit. However, since you're already receiving your own retirement benefit, you'll only receive the difference between your benefit and the spousal benefit (if the spousal benefit is higher). For example: - If your monthly benefit is $1,200 - And your husband's PIA (before his reduction) was $2,800 - Your potential spousal benefit would be $1,400 (50% of $2,800) - You would receive your $1,200 plus an additional $200 to reach the $1,400 spousal benefit You should contact SSA to apply for the spousal benefit if you think it might be higher.
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Mei Lin
•Thank you so much for this detailed explanation! That makes much more sense now. So his early filing penalty doesn't affect my spousal benefit - that's a relief. I'll definitely contact SSA to see if the numbers work out in my favor.
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Amara Nnamani
DONT waste your time calling the 800 number!!! I spent THREE DAYS trying to get through to ask almost the same question about my wife's benefits!! They keep you on hold for 2+ hours then disconnect you!!!! Its CRIMINAL how they treat seniors!!
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Giovanni Mancini
•I had the same frustrating experience trying to reach SSA about my spousal benefits. After getting disconnected four times, I found this service called Claimyr that got me through to a live agent in under 20 minutes. They basically call SSA for you and connect you when they reach a representative. Saved me hours of frustration. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU My advice is to have all your questions ready before the call - I wrote down everything I wanted to ask about my spousal benefit options. The agent was really helpful once I finally got through.
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Fatima Al-Suwaidi
my sister got spousal benefits even though her husband took early ss. they gave her half of what his full benefit wouldve been. she said she just had to fill out an application.
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Dylan Cooper
•Actually that's not quite right. If the sister was already collecting her own benefit (like the OP), then she wouldn't get the full spousal amount - just the difference between her own benefit and the spousal amount IF the spousal was higher. It's called the "excess spousal benefit." A lot of people misunderstand this part and think they'll get both benefits added together.
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Sofia Morales
I was in this exact situation last year! Here's what I learned through the process: 1. You don't get to collect your full benefit PLUS half of your spouse's. Instead, you get the greater of either your own benefit OR up to 50% of your spouse's PIA (what they would have gotten at full retirement age). 2. Since you're at your FRA, you won't face any reduction in the spousal portion. 3. If your own benefit is already higher than half of your husband's PIA, then there's no advantage to applying for spousal benefits. 4. The paperwork was fairly simple, but the wait time to speak with someone at SSA was horrible. I finally got through after calling right when they opened at 8am. Hope this helps! The whole system is unnecessarily complicated.
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Mei Lin
•Thank you for sharing your experience! That's so helpful to hear from someone who went through this recently. I think I understand now - I'll only benefit from applying for the spousal if 50% of what my husband would have gotten at his FRA is more than my current benefit. I'll try calling early in the morning as you suggested.
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Liam Fitzgerald
wait I'm confused now. does it matter that the husband took SS early? does that effect what the wife gets?
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GalacticGuru
•No, it doesn't matter that the husband took benefits early. The spousal benefit is based on the worker's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is the benefit amount at their full retirement age, before any reductions for early claiming or increases for delayed claiming are applied. So the husband's early claim reduces his own benefit, but it doesn't reduce what the spouse can receive as a spousal benefit.
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Mei Lin
I called SSA today and wanted to update everyone. The representative confirmed that I could receive a combination of my own benefit plus a partial spousal benefit to bring me up to 50% of my husband's PIA (what he would have received at full retirement age). In my case, it amounts to an extra $218 per month, which definitely helps! They're processing my application now. Thank you all for your helpful advice!
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Sofia Morales
•That's great news! An extra $218 per month is significant - that's over $2,600 a year. I'm glad it worked out for you. Did they tell you how long it would take to process and when you'll start receiving the increased amount?
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Mei Lin
They said it would take about 30 days to process, and the payments would start the following month. They also mentioned I might get a small retroactive payment since I was eligible as of last month when I reached FRA. Every bit helps with these inflation rates!
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Fatima Al-Suwaidi
•congrats! put that extra money to good use! :
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