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Social Security Spousal Benefit: What Benefits Is Your Spouse Entitled To?
Can your spouse collect on your social security if she reaches retirement age before you do? No. In order for a wife to collect Social Security benefits on her husband's income the following requirements must be met:
1. The spouse applying for the spousal benefit needs to be at least age 62
2. The husband must be eligible for benefits, so he must also be at least age 62. In addition, the husband has to actually sign up for Social Security retirement benefits in order for his wife to receive benefits based on his earnings. The husband can then choose to delay collecting benefits. This strategy is called "file and suspend".
To offer an example, if the wife is 62 and the husband is 60, the wife can start collecting benefits based on her own earnings, but she can not receive benefits based on her husband's income until he turns 62 and applies for benefits.
However, if the wife is 66 and the husband is 62, then the wife can begin receiving based on her husband's income (again the husband must apply for benefits before the wife will be able to collect based upon his earnings).
In the illustrations above, the wife can start receiving benefits based on her own earnings as soon as she turns 62 (assuming she's got at least forty quarters and qualifies for benefits on her own), then switch to half of her husband's benefit when her husband becomes eligible for Social Security.
Several points you should consider before applying for benefits:
If a wife applies for her Social Security spousal benefit based on her husband's earnings when she reaches full retirement age (age 66 for people retiring now), then she'll collect 50% of her husband's primary insurance amount (PIA). On the other hand, if she starts collecting benefits at age 62, her benefit will only be 35% of her husband's PIA.
It does not benefit the spouse to apply after her full retirement age, as spousal benefits don't include delayed credits. Also, it doesn't benefit the wife if the husband delays applying for benefits because she will not receive any increase in benefits that he receives by waiting to apply.
When a spouse gets to full retirement age and is qualified to apply for a spousal benefit or her own benefit, she may claim the spousal benefit now and delay taking her own benefit so she can build up delayed credits on her own benefit.
A person can collect Social Security spousal benefits determined by an ex-spouse's earnings so long as you were married for a minimum of 10 years and you are currently unmarried. Should you have more than one ex-spouse that you meet the criteria regarding spousal benefits, you will get the maximum benefit you qualify for. One advantage that divorced spouses have over married spouses is that a divorced spouse doesn't have to wait for a former husband to start collecting benefits as long as the pair has been divorced for a minimum of two years when she applies.
Finally, the Social Security retirement system is gender neutral, so although this article assumes that the wife is the one applying for spousal benefits, if the wife makes more money than her husband, the husband can sign up for Social Security benefits based on his wife's earnings.
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