Social Security Spousal Benefits

While many retirees know that waiting until age 70 can maximize their own retirement check, applying that same logic to Spousal Benefits is a costly mistake. If you are eligible for a spousal claim, waiting too long could mean losing three years of benefits for no gain.

1. Why Age 70 doesn’t work                                                                                                              A worker’s personal retirement benefit increases by roughly 8% per year for every year they delay filing past their Full Retirement Age (FRA)> However spousal benefits stop increasing once you hit your own FRA. If your FRA is 67 and you wait until 70 to claim a spousal benefit your monthly heck will be the exact same as it would be at 67. So instead of increasing the monthly benefit you miss out on 36 months of payments.
2. The 50% Rule                                                                                                                            A spousal benefit is capped at 50% of the worker’s Primary Insurance Amount (their benefit at full retirement age). Even if the worker waits until 70 to get a bigger check for themselves, the spouse’s portion is calculated based on the worker’s FRA amount.
3. Worker has to file unless…                                                                                                     Generally you cannot collect a spousal benefit until the worker has filed for their own retirement or disability benefits. However there is a major exception for divorced spouses.
4. The Divorced Spouse exception                                                                                            If you are divorced you can claim on an ex-spouse’s record even if they haven’t filed for Social Security yet. To qualify four things must be true:                                   A. Length of Marriage: Married at least 10 years                                                             B. Current status: Currently unmarried                                                                             C. Age requirement: Your ex-spouse is at least 62 years old.                                          D.  2-Year Rule. If your ex hasn’t filed yet, the divorce must be at least 2 years old.
   1. No impact on the Ex-Spouse                                                                                      A. It has zero impact on the worker’s benefit.                                                           B. It does not affect the benefits of the worker’s current spouse.                        C. Social Security does not even notify an ex-spouse that you have filed on their record.                                                                                                                  If you were born in 1959 your FRA is 66 and 10 months.                                    If you were born in 1960 or later your FRA is 67.                                                   If you are filing for spousal benefits only it never pays to wait later than your FRA.