Finding my Social Security start date online to determine spousal benefit top-up eligibility

Yes, you can absolutely find this information online! Log into your my Social Security account at ssa.gov and look for your "Benefit Verification Letter" - it will show exactly when your benefits started and the current amount. Also check the "Payment History" section which shows all payments you've received. Regarding the spousal benefit: Since you're already collecting your own retirement benefit and haven't reached your FRA yet, you might get a reduced spousal benefit. The maximum spousal benefit at FRA would be 50% of your husband's PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), but that gets reduced if you take it before your FRA. And since you've already filed for your own retirement early, you'll be deemed to have filed for spousal benefits simultaneously.

My sister had the same problem! You have to click on the "Benefits & Payments" section, then there should be a link that says "Get a Benefit Verification Letter" somewhere on that page. Hope this helps!

The spousal benefit calculation is a mess when you've filed early. Here's what happened in my case - I filed at 63, my husband was already collecting his full benefit. When I became eligible for the spousal top-up, they did this weird calculation: they took 50% of my husband's benefit, then subtracted my full benefit amount (not what I was actually getting due to the reduction), and THEN they reduced that difference based on my age when I filed for spousal. I ended up with barely anything as a top-up. Like $37 a month. RIDICULOUS after working my whole life!!! And they dont explain ANY of this clearly on their website!!!

Your specific situation will depend on your PIA (what your benefit would be at your FRA) compared to your husband's PIA. Since you started collecting at 64 and 3 months, you received a reduced benefit - approximately 85-86% of your full PIA. When you reach your FRA (66 and 10 months), SSA will calculate your spousal benefit as follows: 1. Take 50% of your husband's PIA 2. Subtract your own PIA (not your reduced benefit amount) 3. If that number is positive, that's your spousal top-up The good news is that since you'll be at FRA when you apply for the spousal benefit, you won't face an additional reduction on the spousal portion.

I went through this exact same situation last year with my wife. After trying to call SSA for weeks and getting disconnected every time, I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual person at Social Security in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent I spoke with was really helpful and ran the calculations right there for me. Turns out my wife was eligible for an extra $380/month in spousal benefits that we'd been missing out on for almost a year! The agent even helped us file for retroactive payments for the months we missed.

Everyone here is giving you complicated answers but missing something SUPER IMPORTANT!!!! When you file for spousal benefits, you have to specifically REQUEST THE SPOUSAL BENEFIT. They don't automatically give it to you even if you're eligible!!!! My mom lost out on almost $6000 because nobody told her this and she thought it was automatic when my dad filed. Make sure you actually apply for it!!!!!

just wondering, did your husband work for the government? my sister's husband did and she got almost nothing from spousal benefits because of something called WEP or GPO i think?

One last tip - when you do reach your FRA and apply for the spousal benefit, print out a copy of your husband's benefit verification letter showing his PIA amount, and bring your own as well. Having documentation of both benefit amounts will help ensure they calculate everything correctly. Also, if the online benefit verification letter doesn't show your exact start date, you can request your complete earnings record, which will show when benefits began. Log in to your my Social Security account, go to "Review Your Information" and then "View Earnings Record."