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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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This is a great description of the rules involved with figuring social security benefits when coordinating with a spouse.
I know it has been mentioned before, but I think the Open Social Security calculator is worth mentioning here again in helping to strategize when to claim benefits.
James, this well written piece provided another HD “knowledge nugget” for me. I somehow missed the “50% Rule” while researching the Social Security (S.S.) landscape for my spouse/family information document in the event of my demise or becoming incapable of navigating all this. While it would only benefit us for a short time (assuming I make it to 70 when I plan to start SS); it is very nice to have the information. My long standing general pessimism and indifference toward S.S.does not diminish my desire to understand the details. Thank You
Great article, James. As Kristine comments, the best Social Security claiming strategy it not as easy as it appears, but can be easy to foul-up.
Excellent article and information. 15 years ago when I was trying to maximize Social Security I had to do a lot of reading and asking questions of friends to come to the best conclusion for our situation. I even called SS to get help, and they did answer my questions correctly. We took my wife’s SS at 65 and mine at 70, and did well. The about is excellent information for those nearing 65. Wish you all the best.
As a federal retiree who was effected by the WEP for years I can wholeheartedly agree — Do not expect correct answers from the SSA about any of this.
Thanks for the article! A follow-up question:
If my wife (who will be 65 in a few months from now) waits until HER FRA (of age 67), will her separate spousal benefit then be HIGHER than it otherwise would be if she instead claims her SS now – a few years earlier than her FRA?
(I assume the answer to this question is Yes, notwithstanding your advice in this article for her not to wait PAST age 67 to do so!)
I plan to wait until age 70 (~ 4 years from now) specifically to maximize her survivor benefit, assuming she will survive me.
Thank you!
Yes. She should wait to 67 so gets 50% of your FRA when you file at 70. Im assuming her spousal will be greater than her own benefit.
Thank you for this article.
Claiming SS benefits seems to be a complicated (and personal) decision.
You are welcome Kristine. Seeing Michael’s query below shows that the rules can be true one day and change later and that Social Security might not follow-up unless prompted.
I think I have my strategy worked out, but I always wonder if it’s the ‘right’ (or ‘best’) one.
I plan on taking my SS at age 62. My husband delayed his until 70. His salary was substantially higher than mine so his benefit is obviously quite a bit higher as well.
I don’t think there’s any reason for me to claim later than 62…???
Wouldn’t say “any reason” but very slim. You earn 32.5% of his FRA for 5 years instead of 50% if waited til age 67. But practically that difference is small and the major benefit is the survivor benefit which is already maximized. Starting at 62 seems right to me too.
Thank you for this information. The SS benefit I will draw at 62 will be my own (not a spousal benefit). My own benefit works out to be slightly higher than 50% of my spouse’s FRA benefit. I think this makes my logic sound.
If anyone can explain eligibility for the spousal benefit, I’d love to hear it.
We’ve remained married almost 43 years. Renee taught in the public schools 31 years before retiring in 2013. I’m still working at 69, having claimed social security 2 years ago at FRA. When Renee asked about claiming a spousal benefit, she was told not to bother, as she didn’t qualify. My assumption was her receiving a public pension was a disqualifier. Is this correct or is there another explanation?
Rules have changed. In 2024 the GPO was eliminated so now spouses with public pensions are NOT penalized. She should definitely file for retroactive benefits as well as spousal benefits.
James: Thanks for the advice. She just filed again.
The SSA has a update page titled Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) update
The update states –
If you were already receiving benefits that were affected by WEP or GPO, the last month WEP or GPO applied was December 2023. Any payment adjustments due would begin for benefits payable starting in January 2024 (paid in February 2024). To receive increased payments for those months, you had to have been entitled to benefits that were either fully or partially reduced by WEP or GPO for those months.
If you were not receiving benefits that were affected by WEP or GPO because you did not previously apply for those benefits, then you will need to contact us to file an application for benefits. The Social Security Fairness Act did not change the provisions of the Social Security Act that govern the retroactivity of benefit applications. Retroactivity for some retirement and survivor’s benefits is generally limited to six months before the month in which the benefit application is filed, although some claims based on disability may be entitled to 12 months of retroactive benefits.
Those rules remain unchanged. Since the Social Security Fairness Act was signed, we have consistently encouraged people who had never applied or were not sure if they applied to consider applying for benefits because the date of your application might affect when your benefits begin.
I read the above SSA comments to apply retroactivity to retirement and survivor’s benefits and thus may not apply to her spousal benefits the later of after 2023 or when you claimed your benefits 2 years ago. That being said I would think it would be prudent to file her claim ASAP, before the end of March 2026, to start the clock on any retroactive payments as it is unclear to me what the position the SSA may take.
Good post. One thing additional though. It is my understanding that while delaying to age 70 does not increase the spousal benefit, it does increase the survivor benefit. Thus if the goal is to maximize survivor income delaying may have value.
Actually no. Because spouse waited to file at FRA their survivor benefit jumps to the higher benefit of the deceased spouse. I.e. not even a benefit if trying to maximize survivor benefits.
I’m confused. It’s not true that if a person delays to 70, the survivor benefit is not based on the spouses age 70 benefit?
Is that because the spouse started their own benefit sooner than 70?
If worker benefit at 70 is $5000 and spousal benefit filing at age 67 is $2000 then the survival single benefit is $5000. Im assuming worker delays to age 70 and spouse delays to age 67.
This explanation should be inserted into the original post, just to avoid confusion over spousal vs survivor benefits. The impact on survivor benefit is the sole reason I delayed filing my claim until 70.
That’s what I thought. The delay increases the survivor benefit even if the spousal benefits won’t increase beyond workers FRA benefit. Right? I hope.
Yes. So no reason for spouse to delay past FRA as receive maximum survivor benefit if worker delayed to 70.
James, my spouse is the higher earner and is waiting until 70 to maximize my survivor benefit. I am six years younger, and he wants me to claim my spousal benefit when he claims his benefit. But if I claim my spousal benefit at 64 (instead of waiting until my FRA) will my survivor benefit be reduced?
Your spousal benefit will be less than 50% if filing before FRA but more importantly if he waits till 70 your survivor benefit is NOT reduced….as long as you file for that at 67 or later.
The Spousal benefit rules were part of Spouse’s and my claiming for SS. Thanks, Jim, for reiterating them here, I know your post will help someone else. Chris
Thanks James,
A good summary of the rules as the rules currently exist.
With the projected depletion on the social security trust fund in the next six or seven years it will serve those who are nearing the time when they decide to claim their social security benefit to assure themself that there are no actual or proposed changes to the social security laws that will adversely impact the existing rules.
Examples of such changes such as the proposal by The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget published March 24, 2026 titled A Six Figure Limit for Social Security may upend the best decision in the future.