Can my 80-year-old sister get extra Social Security benefits from her younger husband's work record?

Yes, your sister might be eligible for spousal benefits, but there's a catch - her husband would need to file for his own retirement benefits first before she can claim on his record. This is because spousal benefits are only available when the worker (her husband) has filed for their own benefits. Once he files, she could potentially receive up to 50% of his Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), but reduced since she took her own benefits early. The Social Security Administration will pay her own benefit first, then add an additional amount if the spousal benefit would be higher. However, since she's already 80 and he's only 62, they should carefully consider if this makes financial sense. If he files early at 62, his benefit will be permanently reduced by about 30% from what he'd get at his Full Retirement Age.

Your sister's husband might want to look into a strategy called "file and suspend" where he could file for benefits (allowing her to claim spousal benefits) but then immediately suspend his own payments so his benefit continues to grow. BUT - this strategy was eliminated by Congress in 2015 with the Bipartisan Budget Act. Unfortunately, there's no way around it now - he must file and actually receive benefits before she can get spousal benefits. They have a tough choice: either he files early (reducing his lifetime benefits) to help her now, or he waits to maximize his own benefit (which would eventually help her too if she outlives him, as she'd get his full benefit as a survivor benefit later).

sorry but i think everyones missing whats most important - her age!!! at 80 yrs old the $$ now is worth WAY more than maybe getting more later. who knows how many years she has left?? her husband should just file now so she can get the extra money. my 2 cents.

The key consideration here is whether the extra spousal benefit NOW is worth the permanent reduction in her husband's benefit (and potentially her future survivor benefit). Here's what I'd do: 1. Have your sister get an official benefit estimate from SSA for what her spousal benefit would be if her husband filed now 2. Calculate what her husband would lose by filing at 62 vs. 70 3. Factor in both their health and family longevity I've been trying to reach SSA for three weeks to get actual numbers for a similar situation with my parents. After countless busy signals and disconnected calls, I found a service called Claimyr that got me through to a live SSA agent in under 20 minutes. You can check them out at claimyr.com - they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Getting actual numbers from SSA rather than estimates will help make the best decision.

Everybody keeps talking about her husband filing, but nobody's mentioned that your sister might qualify for survivor benefits from your father who just passed away! If your dad was receiving a higher benefit than your sister currently gets, she might be eligible for survivor benefits based on HIS record instead of waiting for her husband to file. SSA doesn't automatically check for this - she needs to apply specifically for survivor benefits. This might be a better solution than having her husband file early.

THIS IS WHY THE SYSTEM IS SO FRUSTRATING!!! Your sister spent YEARS as a caregiver which meant she couldn't work and build up her own SS credits, and now she's stuck with a tiny benefit. The SSA should give credit for caregiving years!!! And now her husband can't help her without hurting himself financially. The whole system is RIGGED against women who do the unpaid care work that society depends on!!!!!

just wondering - did your sister ever work enough to qualify for Medicare on her own record? if shes getting SS benefits i assume yes but just checking cause thats important at her age too

After thinking about this more, I want to clarify something important: When your sister's husband eventually DOES file for benefits (whether now or later), she will automatically be eligible for the spousal benefit if it would increase her total benefit amount. The benefit calculation is: She gets her own benefit first, then an additional amount if the spousal benefit (up to 50% of her husband's PIA) would be higher. The early filing reduction from her claiming at 62 will affect the spousal amount, but she'd still likely see some increase. Also worth noting - if her husband passes away before her, she would be eligible for 100% of his benefit amount as a widow (assuming it's higher than her own). This survivor benefit can actually be a major factor in deciding when he should claim.