Will my husband receive spousal benefits when I claim Social Security at FRA with higher earnings?

Yes, your husband would qualify for a spousal benefit that would increase his total benefit to 50% of your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) when you file for retirement benefits. Since his own benefit is $2,075 and half of yours would be approximately $2,225 (half of $4,450), he would receive his own $2,075 plus a spousal top-up of about $150, bringing his total to $2,225. This would start when you file for your own benefits. The fact that he was previously on SSDI doesn't affect his eligibility for the spousal benefit now that he's converted to retirement benefits.

my wife got ss and i got ssi and when she started taking her bennefits they gave me extra too. its automatic i think you dont have to apply seperate for it. they just add it on

I went through this EXACT situation with my husband last year!!! When I filed for my retirement (I was the higher earner), my husband DID get the spousal top-up, but we had to specifically REQUEST it at the SSA office. They didn't do it automatically even though they should have!!! It took THREE VISITS and they ended up having to pay him 4 months of back payments because someone didn't process it right the first time! Make sure you specifically ASK for the spousal benefit when you file!!!!

I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone at Social Security to sort out my husband's spousal benefits. The phone lines were always busy or I'd wait for hours only to get disconnected. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Once I got through, the agent confirmed that my husband was eligible for the spousal top-up and helped process it right away. Honestly saved me so much frustration!

The previous responses are mostly correct, but I want to clarify something important. The spousal benefit calculation is 50% of your PIA at your Full Retirement Age, regardless of when you actually claim benefits. So if you work longer and your benefit increases due to additional earnings or delayed retirement credits, your husband's spousal benefit would still be based on your FRA amount, not your increased amount. Also, there's sometimes confusion about SSDI conversion to retirement. When a disability beneficiary reaches Full Retirement Age, the benefit automatically converts to retirement benefits but the amount stays the same. This conversion doesn't affect spousal benefit eligibility.

Just wondering - does this affect your Medicare premiums at all? My friend said something about IRMAA when her husband got the spousal benefit and their premiums went up because of combined income.

Thank you all for such helpful information! I understand much better now. I'll make sure to specifically request the spousal benefit when I file for my own retirement, and I'll bring all our documentation. It's good to know the approximate amount too - every extra bit helps with today's costs. I might use that Claimyr service when the time comes since getting through to SSA seems to be a common frustration. One last question - if I decide to file at exactly 67 (my FRA), how long does it typically take for my husband's spousal addition to start showing up in his payments? I want to make sure we budget correctly.

If you apply for your benefits and your husband's spousal benefit at the same time, they typically process both together. Usually, it takes about 30-60 days for the first payments to begin, though the spousal adjustment might take an additional payment cycle to appear. I recommend applying 3 months before you want benefits to begin to allow processing time. Keep in mind that Social Security pays benefits in the month following the month they're due for, so there's always that one-month delay in the payment schedule. If you run into any issues with the spousal benefit not appearing after 2-3 months, definitely follow up with SSA directly.