How to find my original FRA benefit amount for calculating spousal benefits?

just take ur current benefit and divide by 1.128, thats the 8% per year increase for delaying 1 yr 8 months past ur FRA

To find your benefit amount at Full Retirement Age (FRA), you have a few options: 1. Check your Social Security Statement online in your my Social Security account. Under "Your Benefit Estimate" it should show what you would have received at FRA. Even though you're already collecting, your past statements should be available in the portal. 2. If you can't locate it online, you can calculate it backwards. Since you delayed 20 months (from 66+4 months to 68), you received delayed retirement credits of approximately 13.33% (8% per year or 2/3% per month). Take your current benefit and divide by 1.1333 to get your FRA amount. 3. You can request a Benefits Verification Letter through your online account or by visiting/calling an SSA office. This letter should specify your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), which is your benefit at FRA. Your wife would receive 50% of your FRA amount (not your increased amount), assuming she files at her own FRA. If she files early, her spousal benefit would be reduced.

My husband and I just went through this exact same headache last month!! The SSA website is SO confusing about this stuff. We ended up having to go to our local office in person and wait for 3 hours!!! The agent told us my spousal benefit would be reduced by 30% because I was taking it 5 years early (I'm 62, FRA is 67). They have some complicated formula where you lose like 25/36 of a percent for each month for the first 36 months early and then 5/12 of a percent for each additional month. Totally ridiculous system if you ask me!!

Instead of trying to calculate it yourself, you might want to just ask the SSA directly for your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). That's the technical term for your benefit at FRA, and it's what's used to calculate spousal benefits. I was in a similar situation trying to help my parents figure this out. After getting disconnected multiple times calling the regular SSA number, I discovered a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA agent in under 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Once I got through, the agent was able to tell me the exact PIA amount immediately. Saved me from doing all those calculations and potentially getting it wrong. The agent can also tell your wife exactly what her spousal benefit would be at different ages.

does it matter that much? whatever she gets is what she gets they make the calculation not you lol

I know exactly what you're going through! Been there done that! When I was trying to figure this out for my wife, I about pulled my hair out. The statements are SO confusing!! One thing nobody mentioned yet - did you save ANY of your old Social Security statements from BEFORE you started collecting? They used to mail them every year, and those would show your FRA amount. I found an old one in my filing cabinet from 2018 and it had exactly what I needed!

For accuracy in planning, there's an important distinction to understand: Your wife's spousal benefit is based on your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is the benefit amount you would receive at your Full Retirement Age. This is true regardless of when you actually claimed benefits. If you delayed claiming until age 68, your actual benefit includes Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs), but these DRCs do NOT increase the spousal benefit amount. Your wife's maximum spousal benefit will be 50% of your PIA if she claims at her FRA. If she claims before her FRA, her spousal benefit will be permanently reduced. At age 62, assuming her FRA is 67, the reduction would be approximately 35%, meaning she'd get about 32.5% of your PIA instead of the full 50%. The calculation method provided by earlier commenters (dividing your current benefit by the DRC factor) is correct for estimating your PIA from your current benefit amount.

my wifes gettin 1200 from my record and i only worked 25 yrs before gettin disabled so yours will probly be way more

One additional tip: When you do call SSA (or use a service to help you get through), ask specifically for your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) as well as your wife's options at different claiming ages. Get the agent to explain: 1. Your PIA (benefit at FRA) 2. What your wife would get if claiming at her age 62 3. What she would get if waiting until her FRA 4. If she has her own work record, whether it's better for her to claim her own benefit or the spousal benefit 5. How the Government Pension Offset (GPO) might affect her if she has a government pension You may want to request that they send you a letter documenting this information for your records. This helps with your planning and prevents misunderstandings about benefit amounts.