Social Security spousal benefits for 10-year age gap - when can I collect full amount?

Your Full Retirement Age (FRA) is based on your birth year, not your husband's. If you were born in 1964, your FRA is 67. You can claim spousal benefits as early as age 62, but they'll be permanently reduced - down to about 32.5% of your husband's benefit instead of the full 50% you'd get at your FRA. So to get the full spousal amount, you need to wait until you reach your own FRA.

I was in a similar situation with my wife – 11 year difference. The important thing to understand is that your spousal benefit is completely determined by YOUR age when you file, not when your husband filed. I learned this the hard way! When you reach your FRA (probably 67), you'll get the full 50% of his Primary Insurance Amount. If you claim at 62, you'll get about 32.5% as mentioned above. Also important: SSA will automatically give you the higher of your own benefit or the spousal benefit when you file, so don't worry about filing for one or the other.

I just realized I should have mentioned that I've mainly been a stay-at-home mom, so my own work record is pretty small compared to my husband's. Does that change anything about when I should file?

my wife claimed spousal on my record when she was 63, she got less then the 50% but we needed the money. just know once you claim early YOU CANT GO BACK and get the full amount later!! thats what the ss office told us.

Something nobody has mentioned yet - since you have a work record of your own, you'll be subject to what's called "deemed filing." This means when you file for either your own retirement or spousal benefits, you're deemed to have filed for both. The Social Security Administration will then pay you the higher of the two amounts. Here's what you should consider: 1. If you file at 62, both your own retirement benefit AND spousal benefit will be reduced permanently. 2. If you wait until your FRA (67), you'll get the full amount for both, and SSA will pay whichever is higher. 3. Unlike retirement benefits, spousal benefits don't increase after your FRA, so there's no advantage to waiting beyond 67. Given the 10-year age difference, your husband will be 79 when you reach your FRA. Consider your financial situation and health when deciding whether to claim early or wait.

OK I need to share this because I was in your EXACT situation last year. I tried for WEEKS to get through to SS to ask questions about spousal benefits with age difference. Kept getting disconnected or wait times of 3+ hours!!!! Super frustrating. Then I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual SS agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent explained everything about the age difference and spousal benefits timing. Totally worth it to talk to an actual SSA person rather than guessing or getting conflicting info online.

my cousin told me u can file for spousal at 62 then switch to ur own at 70 to get the bigger amount is that true???

Social Security representative here. I want to clarify a few important points: 1. Your FRA is determined by your birth year. For someone born in 1964, FRA is 67. 2. Spousal benefits at FRA are 50% of your husband's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is his benefit amount at his FRA (not necessarily what he's currently receiving). 3. Early filing reduction for spousal benefits: - Age 62: 35% reduction (you get 32.5% instead of 50%) - Age 63: 30% reduction - Age 64: 25% reduction - Age 65: 16.7% reduction - Age 66: 8.3% reduction - Age 67: No reduction (full 50%) 4. There's no advantage to waiting beyond your FRA for spousal benefits. 5. When you apply, you'll be deemed to have filed for both retirement and spousal benefits, and you'll receive the higher amount. I recommend creating a my Social Security account at ssa.gov to see your estimated benefits based on your own work record.

To answer your follow-up question: Yes, if your husband passes away, you would be eligible for survivor benefits, which would be up to 100% of what your husband was receiving (compared to the 50% for spousal benefits). Survivor benefits and spousal benefits are entirely different programs with different rules. If you were receiving spousal benefits and your husband passed away, you would be able to switch to survivor benefits if they were higher (which they typically are). The survivor benefit amount depends on several factors including your age when you claim them, but at your FRA or later, you would receive 100% of your husband's benefit amount.