Married couple both eligible for Social Security - will we each get full benefits or is there a family maximum?
Hi everyone, I'm trying to figure out our retirement situation. My husband (65) and I (63) have both worked continuously since we were teenagers and have paid into Social Security our entire careers. We haven't filed for benefits yet, but we're starting to plan. When we look at our Social Security statements online, they each show an estimated benefit amount. My question is: will we each receive our full benefit amount as shown on our statements? Or is there some kind of marriage/household cap or family maximum that would reduce what we'd get? I've heard conflicting things from friends about whether married couples get their full individual benefits or if they're somehow reduced. Thanks for any insights!
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Sean O'Connor
You'll each receive your own full retirement benefit based on your work records. The family maximum applies to situations where multiple people (like children or a spouse) are drawing benefits based on ONE person's work record. Since you both have your own work records, you'll each get your full benefit amount as shown on your statements (assuming you claim at your full retirement age).
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Anastasia Sokolov
•Thank you so much for clarifying! That's a relief. So the family maximum doesn't apply to our situation at all? I was worried our combined checks would be reduced.
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Zara Ahmed
my wife and I both get our own ss checks! we both worked 40+ years and get exactly what our statements said we would (actually a bit more with the COLAs they've given)... no family max applies to us
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Anastasia Sokolov
•That's really helpful to hear from someone in the same situation. Did you both start collecting at the same time or did one of you start before the other?
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Luca Conti
I had the EXACT same question last year! You both get your own checks based on your own work history. My hubby and I both waited until our FRA (66+2mo for us) and we each get what our statements showed. It's nice to have two SS checks coming in each month!
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Nia Johnson
•This is kind of off topic, but did you guys consider having one of you file earlier? My financial advisor suggested my wife take hers at 62 and I wait until 70 as a strategy. Wonder if that would work for the original poster too?
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Sean O'Connor
Since you both have strong work histories, you should also look into claiming strategies. At 65, your husband is already past his earliest possible FRA (likely 66+), while you're still a few years away from yours. He could file now to start receiving his benefits while you wait until your FRA (likely 66+8mo) or even age 70 to maximize your benefit. This approach can be advantageous for married couples as it provides income now while also maximizing the higher lifetime benefit.
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Anastasia Sokolov
•That's an interesting strategy I hadn't thought about. His FRA is 66 and 4 months, and mine is 66 and 10 months. So he could start collecting now while I wait. Would that impact survivor benefits down the road?
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CyberNinja
NONE of you are addressing the REAL issue here!!! The SSA OFTEN makes mistakes in those benefit estimates!!! I worked 45 years and my actual benefit was $267 LESS than what my statement showed!!! Don't trust those numbers!!! Call SSA and DEMAND a detailed calculation breakdown!!
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Sean O'Connor
•While it's true that estimates can sometimes differ from actual benefits, dramatic differences like you described typically occur when there's missing or incorrect earnings information, or when the WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) applies due to pensions from non-covered employment. For most people with straightforward work histories, the estimates are reasonably accurate within a small margin.
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Mateo Lopez
I've been trying to reach SSA for weeks to ask a similar question about my husband's and my benefits. Calling is impossible - I keep getting disconnected or told the wait is 2+ hours. I finally found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an agent in about 15 minutes. You might want to check them out at claimyr.com if you need specific answers about your situation. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Saved me hours of frustration.
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Zara Ahmed
•does that really work? been trying to get thru to someone at SSA for 3 weeks about my missing COLA increase!
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Mateo Lopez
Yes, it actually works! I was skeptical too but desperate after trying for days. The SSA agent I spoke with was able to confirm all the details about our benefits and answer my specific questions. Much better than trying to piece together information from online.
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Anastasia Sokolov
•Thanks for sharing this! I think I will need to talk to someone at SSA directly to get clarity on our specific situation, especially with the age difference between my husband and me.
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Aisha Abdullah
One important thing to check - make sure neither of you worked for state or local government jobs that didn't pay into Social Security. If you did, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) or Government Pension Offset (GPO) could reduce your benefits. Based on what you've said though (working since 16 with SS contributions), this probably doesn't apply to you. You should both receive your full earned benefits.
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Anastasia Sokolov
•No, we both worked in the private sector our entire careers, so WEP/GPO shouldn't affect us. I hadn't even thought about that aspect!
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Luca Conti
I just remmbered you might still want to check if either of you qualifies for spousal benefits if one of you had much higher earnings. Sometimes its better to take 50% of your spouses benefit than your own. But you cant get both your own and spousal - they give you whichever is higher.
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Sean O'Connor
•That's correct, but with both having long work histories (since age 16), it's unlikely that the spousal benefit (max 50% of the higher earner's PIA) would exceed either person's own benefit. Still, it's always worth checking the numbers with SSA before making any filing decisions.
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Anastasia Sokolov
Thank you everyone for all the helpful information! Just to summarize what I've learned: 1) We will each get our full benefits based on our own work records, 2) There's no family maximum that applies to our situation, 3) We might want to consider staggered filing with my husband claiming now and me waiting, 4) We should double-check our benefit estimates with SSA directly. This has been incredibly helpful as we plan for retirement!
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