Social Security family maximum reducing my child and spouse benefits - way below 50% of my PIA

The family maximum is definitely lowering your dependents' benefits. The formula is complex but generally caps total family benefits at 150-180% of your PIA. Your family would theoretically be eligible for 50% each for your wife and child (plus your 100%), totaling 200% of your PIA, which exceeds the maximum. When this happens, your benefit stays whole, but your dependents' benefits get proportionally reduced. The exact family maximum formula uses bend points similar to the PIA calculation: - 150% of the first $1,308 of your PIA - 272% of your PIA from $1,308 through $1,889 - 134% of your PIA from $1,889 through $2,463 - 175% of your PIA over $2,463 Based on your PIA of $2,875, your family maximum is probably around $4,445, which means after your $2,875, there's only $1,570 left to split between your wife and child equally ($785 each).

your getting a really good deal actually!! when my husband retired in 2022 we had THREE kids under 18 and they each got like $390 a month and I only got $400 for caring for them!! SSA told us that it didnt matter how many kids we had the family max was still the same so each kid gets less with more kids. your kid is getting more then $700 which is better then what each of mine got

I went through this exact situation last year. The family maximum formula is working exactly as designed in your case. One thing to note: when your child turns 16, your spouse will no longer receive the child-in-care benefit (unless your spouse is at least 62 by then). At that point, your child will continue to receive benefits until age 18 (or 19 if still in high school), but your spouse will have a gap in benefits until reaching their own retirement age. For verification, you can request a detailed calculation from SSA. Call and specifically ask for a MACADE breakdown of the family maximum computation. This is their internal system that shows exactly how they calculated everything. Some representatives may not know what this is, so you might need to speak to a technical benefits advisor.

We had similar shock with our benefit amounts! Husband got $3100, but me and our twins only got $680 each instead of the $1550 each we expected. After THREE visits to the local office we finally got someone who explained it clearly. The family max is the problem - do the math on your PIA with those percentages the other commenter listed and it will probably match your total family benefit pretty closely.

The family maximums are a TOTAL SCAM!!! My husband worked for 45 years paying into the system and when he finally retired they cut our kids benefits way down. It's not fair that when we actually need the money to support our family they cap it!!! The rich politicians make these rules while regular families struggle. I've been fighting with SSA for months about this and getting NOWHERE. The whole system is designed to confuse people on purpose so we don't get what we deserve!!!!

OMG dealing with SSA is an absolute nightmare! I tried calling about our family max issue for two weeks straight. Always on hold for 2+ hours then disconnected. Finally I found this service called Claimyr that got me connected to a real SSA agent in 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Got my family max calculation explained and even had them correct an error that increased our payments by $127/month! Try claimyr.com if you keep getting disconnected - saved me so much frustration.

also when your kid turns 18 their benefits stop COMPLETELY unless their still in highschool, then they stop at 19. AND the benefits only go until 16 for your wife unless she's disabled herself. We didn't know that and had to pay back $4,700 in overpayments because nobody told us to report when my son graduated!!

Here's a trick I learned from a friend who retired from SSA: The best way to verify your family maximum calculation is to schedule an in-person appointment at your local office and specifically request a PIA/FMAX breakdown printout. This shows all the bend points and calculations. The online calculators aren't reliable for dependent benefits because they don't correctly apply the family maximum in many cases. Also, keep in mind that once your dependent child turns 16, your spouse will no longer qualify for mother's/father's benefits until they reach their own retirement age or become disabled. This catches many families by surprise, so start planning for that transition now.

Another thing to consider is that dependent benefits can increase over time. If any dependents stop receiving benefits (like when your child turns 18/19), the remaining dependents can have their benefits recalculated and potentially increased up to the 50% maximum. This won't happen automatically though - you need to contact SSA to request a recalculation when your family situation changes.