Can my husband switch to my higher Social Security benefit when I start collecting at 62?

Unfortunately, your husband can't "switch" to your benefit. If he's already collecting his own retirement, the most he could get as a spouse is the difference between his benefit and 50% of your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) - which is what you'd get at full retirement age, not your age 62 amount. And since he started early at 62, his spousal benefit would be reduced too. Honestly, in your situation, he likely won't qualify for any spousal benefits at all since his own benefit is already more than 50% of what your full retirement age amount would be.

When I filed, my wife had the higher benefit and I didn't get anything extra. They explained it's about the PIA thing the other person mentioned. You only get spousal if half of your spouse's full benefit is higher than your own full benefit (not the reduced amount). Most ppl don't realize this until its too late.

Let me clarify how spousal benefits work in your situation: 1. Your husband is already receiving his own retirement benefit that he filed for at age 62 ($1,650/month). 2. When you file at 62, your husband could potentially receive a spousal benefit, but it would be calculated as: 50% of your Primary Insurance Amount (what you would get at Full Retirement Age) MINUS his own Primary Insurance Amount (what he would get at his FRA). 3. This difference is then reduced because he took benefits early at 62. 4. If 50% of your PIA is less than his own PIA, he gets $0 in spousal benefits. In your case, if your age 62 benefit will be $1,950, your PIA (full retirement age benefit) is probably around $2,600-$2,700. Half of that would be $1,300-$1,350, which is less than your husband's current benefit, so he wouldn't receive any additional spousal amount. The system is designed so that each person receives the higher of either their own benefit or the spousal benefit, not both combined.

Have you actually talked to someone at Social Security about this? When I tried figuring out something similar for me and my husband, the online calculators were WAY off. We ended up getting $230 more per month than what the website estimated!!!! But it took FOREVER to get through to someone who actually knew what they were talking about.

i thought the same thing when my wife started collecting!!! turns out its all about that PIA thing (primary insurance amount). my wife's pia was $2200 and mine was $1800, so half of hers would be $1100 which is less than my own so i got ZERO spousal benefits. its frustrating but thats how it works. you should really check with SSA directly tho because sometimes they calculate things differently than what we think.

Just want to add that if your benefit is substantially higher than your husbands, you might want to look into whether you should delay taking your benefits beyond 62. Each year you wait increases your benefit by about 8%, which could be important if you end up being the survivor (survivor gets the higher of the two benefits).

My sister was in exact same situation!!!! Her husband got NOTHING extra even though she made WAY more than him their whole marriage. The whole system is rigged I swear. They should change it so spouses get the higher amount period!!!!

Thank you everyone for your helpful explanations! I understand now that my husband won't receive any additional spousal benefits since his own benefit already exceeds 50% of what my Primary Insurance Amount would be at full retirement age. I'm going to look into whether it makes sense for me to delay claiming beyond 62 for survivor benefit purposes as someone suggested. Really appreciate all the insights!