Can my husband receive spousal benefits from my Social Security if I'm not drawing yet? He's 78 and I'm 57

Your husband can only receive spousal benefits after you start collecting your own Social Security. If your benefit at 62 would be $2,700, then his spousal benefit would potentially be up to 50% of your full retirement age benefit (not your reduced age 62 benefit). However, there's an important calculation to understand. When someone applies for spousal benefits, they don't just get half of the other spouse's amount. Instead, they get the difference between their own benefit and approximately half of their spouse's full retirement age benefit (if that amount is higher). Since your husband is already receiving his own retirement benefit, he would only get the difference between his current benefit and half of your FRA amount. You'd need to know what your benefit would be at your full retirement age to make this calculation. As for whether you should file at 62 - that depends on many factors including your health, family longevity, other income sources, and how much the additional spousal amount would help now versus the higher amount you'd get by waiting.

I went through a similar situation with my wife. Practical advice: call SSA directly to get exact numbers before making any decisions. The calculation for spousal benefits can be surprisingly complex. One thing to consider - if your husband is 78 and you're 57, there's a 21-year age gap. You need to think about survivor benefits too. When he passes away, you would be eligible for survivor benefits, which could be equal to what he was receiving (including any spousal benefits). But you can't claim those until you're at least 60. Regarding whether you should file at 62 so he can get spousal benefits: It's a tradeoff. Filing early permanently reduces your own benefit by about 30% from your full retirement age amount. You need to calculate whether the extra spousal amount he'd get for however many years multiplied by the years he might receive it exceeds the reduction in your own benefit multiplied by your expected lifetime.

OK so someone needs to say that the ages in ur post don't match ur title? You say husband is 78 but title says 76 and you say ur 57 but title says 55? Maybe typo but that would change when you can file. Also you said $2700 at 62 which seems REALLY high for reduced benefits unless you were a high earner. Are you sure that's right? My wife was making nearly 6 figures and her benefit at 62 was no where near that. But to answer your main ? - husband CANNOT get spousal benefits until you file. Period. And remember that you filing early means permanently reduced benefits for life for YOU.

I tried calling Social Security for WEEKS to get exact numbers on my husband's spousal benefits and kept getting busy signals or disconnected. Super frustrating! Then I found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a real person at SSA in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The SSA rep I spoke with was able to run calculations showing exactly how much my husband would get at different filing ages for me. Made our decision so much easier with actual numbers instead of guesses. Worth checking out if you're having trouble getting through on the phone.

Quick question about this situation - wouldn't it make more sense to focus on maximizing YOUR benefit since you're so much younger than your husband? I mean, I know everyone's situation is different but with a 21-year age gap, YOU will likely be collecting benefits much longer than he will receive spousal benefits. Also, when your husband passes away, you'd be eligible for survivor benefits. If you've waited to claim your own benefits and they're higher than his (including any spousal addition), you'd just take your own higher amount anyway. Just thinking practical dollars and cents here... if you file at 62 to help him now, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table over your lifetime. Just my two cents! 😊

my mom filed at 62 so my dad could get spousal benefits and she TOTALLY regrets it now!!! hes been gone 4 years and shes stuck with that tiny check for the rest of her life. she says if she could do it over shed have waited til at least her FRA. just saying.

what about looking at what your survivor benefits would be? when my wife passed I got her full benefit as survivor benefit since it was more than mine. With ur husband being older shouldn't u be focusing on that instead of spousal?

OK honest question - has anyone actually sucessfully gotten half of their spouses benefits while the spouse is still working?? my sister tried this and SSA told her she had it all wrong. She couldn't get it til her husband FILED not just became eligible. so confusing!!

After reading through this thread, I want to offer some additional information that might help with your decision: 1. You can request a detailed benefit calculation from SSA that will show exactly what your benefit would be at 62, FRA, and 70, as well as what your husband's spousal benefit would be once you file. 2. Remember that if you file at 62, your benefit will be reduced by approximately 30% from your FRA amount for life. 3. If your husband is receiving $625/month now, and your FRA benefit would be around $3,400, then his spousal benefit would potentially increase his total to around $1,700 (half your FRA amount). 4. This means filing at 62 could give him an additional $1,075/month, but would permanently reduce your own benefit by about $1,000/month compared to what you'd get at FRA. 5. The breakeven calculation should consider both your life expectancies and immediate financial needs. Have you considered whether you might work part-time between 62-67? If you claim benefits early but continue working, you'd be subject to the earnings test, which could temporarily reduce or eliminate your benefits until you reach FRA.