Can my wife claim spousal benefits on my Social Security when I start at 66 but my FRA is 67?

Your wife's spousal benefit would be based on your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), which is what you'd get at your full retirement age of 67. When YOU take your benefits early at 66, YOU get a reduction, but her spousal benefit calculation is still based on your full PIA amount. However, since she's already collecting her own benefit, she'll only get the difference if the spousal benefit is higher than her own. This is called the "excess spousal benefit" - it's the difference between her benefit and 50% of your PIA.

When did your wife start working? My husband and I were in similar situation but turns out his benefit was WAY higher than mine because I took time off for kids

Just to add some important details: The spousal benefit is indeed based on your PIA (unreduced benefit at FRA), not on what you actually receive when you file early. However, for your wife to receive spousal benefits, you must be collecting your own benefits first. Also important - since your wife is already collecting her own benefits, the SSA will automatically calculate if she's eligible for additional spousal benefits once you file. She won't need to submit a separate application. They'll just pay her the higher of either her own benefit or the combination of her own plus the spousal excess amount. One more consideration - if your benefit is substantially higher than hers, you might want to run calculations on whether it makes financial sense for you to wait until your FRA or even age 70 to maximize your benefit, which would also maximize any potential survivor benefit for her if you pass away first.

my head hurts trying to figure all this out lol. i tried calling SS multiple times about my benefits and kept getting disconnected. total nightmare!!

THEY MAKE IT COMPLICATED ON PURPOSE!! You think the govt wants to pay us our full benefits?? I've been fighting with them for 2 years about my benefits calculation and they keep giving me different answers every time I call. My advice - document EVERYTHING and always get the rep's name and ID number when you call!

To directly answer your original question: When your wife files for spousal benefits, she would be eligible for up to 50% of your PIA (your FRA benefit amount), regardless of when you actually claim your benefits. But remember that since she's already receiving her own retirement benefit, she'll only receive the difference if 50% of your PIA exceeds her own benefit amount. For example: - Your PIA (benefit at FRA) = $3,000 - 50% of your PIA = $1,500 - Your wife's own benefit = $1,200 - Spousal benefit she could receive = $300 ($1,500 - $1,200) This would be added to her own benefit for a total of $1,500.

whatever u do dont make the mistake i did...i filed right at 62 and now im getting like $600 less than if i had waited! wish somone had told me

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I think I understand better now - her spousal benefit would be based on my full FRA amount (at 67), not my reduced amount when I file at 66. And since she's already collecting her own benefit, she'd just get the difference if 50% of my PIA is more than her current benefit. I'm going to do some more calculations to see if it makes more sense for me to wait longer than 66, considering both our current needs and the long-term impact. Really appreciate all the insights!

You're welcome! Just one more thing to consider - make sure to check if your wife might be eligible for any delayed retirement credits on her own benefit if she hasn't reached 70 yet. Even though she's already collecting, sometimes people don't realize they could have waited longer for a higher benefit. Also, you might want to use the SSA's online benefit calculators or consider meeting with a financial advisor who specializes in Social Security optimization. The timing decision can have a huge impact on your lifetime benefits, especially when you factor in both of your life expectancies and potential survivor benefits.

I went through this exact same situation with my husband last year! One thing that really helped us was creating a spreadsheet to compare different scenarios - like what our total household income would look like if he filed at 66 vs waiting until 67 or even 70. Don't forget to factor in taxes too - Social Security benefits can be taxable depending on your other income sources. We ended up deciding it made sense for him to file early because we needed the cash flow, even though it meant leaving some money on the table long-term. Sometimes the bird in the hand is worth more than waiting for the potential bird in the bush, especially if you have health concerns or other financial pressures.