Can I get half of my husband's Social Security benefits while he keeps his full amount?

You're absolutely correct, and your husband is mistaken. When you claim a spousal benefit (which is up to 50% of your husband's Primary Insurance Amount), it has zero effect on his own benefit amount. He continues to receive his full benefit regardless of what you claim. A couple of important things to note: 1) If you claim before your Full Retirement Age (FRA), your spousal benefit will be reduced. 2) You cannot claim only the spousal benefit while letting your own benefit grow - SSA will pay your own benefit first, then top it up to the spousal amount if that's higher. Show your husband this thread and hopefully it will settle your debate!

i went thru this with my wife last year ur 100% right he gets his full amount no matter what u do. its ur choice if u want ur own benfit or half of his if thats more. my wife got more on her own so we didnt do the spouse thing but i know ppl who did

Let me clarify this further for you with some technical details: When you claim benefits based on your husband's record, what you're actually receiving is your own retirement benefit PLUS a supplement to bring the total up to 50% of his Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). Here's how it works: - If your benefit is $1,000 and his PIA is $2,600 - 50% of his PIA would be $1,300 - You would get your $1,000 + a $300 spousal supplement This is completely independent of what he receives. His benefit remains exactly the same whether you claim on his record or not. The Social Security Administration specifically designed the system this way to support non-working or lower-earning spouses without penalizing the higher earner. So yes, you are right and your husband is wrong on this specific point.

Not to confuse things, but there ARE situations where one spouse's claim affects the other spouse's benefit. For example, if one of you files for benefits and the other is eligible for spousal benefits, the other spouse can receive those spousal benefits. Also, survivor benefits work differently than what you're describing. Maybe your husband is thinking of a different scenario?

My husband thought THE EXACT SAME THING!!!!! Men, I swear. Show him this thread and tell him Steve from Minnesota says he needs to trust his wife more often LOL

I actually called the Social Security Administration about this exact question last month. It took me FOREVER to get through to an actual person. Like, I called for 3 days straight and kept getting disconnected. So frustrating! But when I finally spoke to someone, they confirmed exactly what you're saying. Your husband's benefit is completely unaffected by your decision to take the spousal benefit. You're making the right choice if half his benefit is more than your full benefit would be! BTW, if you need to talk to SSA yourself and are having trouble getting through, I found this service called Claimyr that got me connected to a real person in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours or days. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - totally worth it when you need to get specific questions answered!

One thing nobody has mentioned yet: when one spouse dies, the surviving spouse gets to keep the HIGHER of the two benefit amounts. So even if your own benefit is lower and you're currently getting the spousal benefit, if your husband passes away before you (statistically more likely), you'll get his full benefit amount as a survivor benefit. This is actually a really important part of Social Security planning that many couples overlook. The higher earner should usually try to delay claiming as long as possible (up to age 70) to maximize this eventual survivor benefit.

this happend to my sister too her husband was CONVINCED hed lose money if she took the spouse benfit thing. they even got in a big fight about it! men are so stubborn lol. show him this whole thred maybe hell believe all of us!!!!

I want to add one more technical point: When we talk about the "spousal benefit being 50% of your husband's benefit," it's actually 50% of his Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is the benefit he would receive at his Full Retirement Age. If your husband claimed early and took a reduced benefit, your spousal benefit is still based on 50% of his PIA, not 50% of his reduced benefit. Similarly, if he delayed and gets more than his PIA, your spousal benefit is still based on his PIA, not his increased benefit. This is a common source of confusion that might be contributing to your disagreement.