Social Security Spousal Benefits: Generally speaking, Social Security operates as follows: you make money during your employment, pay taxes on your income, and then, when you reach a specific age (62 in this case), you can apply for benefits.
However, even if you have never worked a day in your life and have no history of earning, you are still eligible to receive a monthly Social Security payment in retirement. Spousal benefits may be due if you are or were married to a Social Security eligible person.
To be clear, the amount of money your spouse or ex-spouse is entitled to will not be reduced by those benefits. You shouldn’t feel guilty about pursuing those benefits if you’re eligible for them since it’s not like Social Security is taking away from what your spouse is paying you.
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Social Security Spousal Benefits
Having said that, it’s critical to comprehend the specifics of Social Security spousal benefits. It’s also critical to understand the elements—like these—that may result in a reduced spousal payment.
1. Your partner has chosen to file early.
50% of what your current or previous spouse is entitled to receive in Social Security spousal benefits is the maximum amount you can get. However, you will have less money to claim yourself if your spouse files for Social Security early and has their monthly payment reduced as a result.
Assume your spouse files several years ahead of schedule, despite the fact that they would typically get a $2,000 Social Security income at full retirement age (FRA). Their advantage could therefore only be $1,600 as a result. At that moment, instead of being eligible for $1,000 per month, your maximum monthly payment would be $800.
2. You’re registering before to FRA
If you wait until your own FRA to file, you can get half of your spouse’s or ex-spouse’s Social Security payment. You may enrol earlier, but in the same manner that a main benefit is lowered for an early filing, you will lose out on your spousal benefit if you do.
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3. Your claim is being delayed past the FRA.
Assume your spouse worked long enough to be eligible for Social Security benefits. Your spouse would have an incentive in that scenario to postpone filing their Social Security claim past FRA. They receive a permanent 8% increase in their monthly payment for every year they comply, up to the age of 70.
However, spousal benefits follow separate regulations. The raise that main benefits are eligible for does not apply to these benefits. Delaying your spouse benefit claim over your own FRA makes no sense because you won’t receive any further funds.
Furthermore, if you wait too long to collect spousal benefits, you can miss out on some Social Security income permanently. For those who wait longer than is reasonable to file for benefits, Social Security will reimburse up to six months’ worth of retroactive payments. But after that, you might not have much luck.
Assume that although you wait until age 68 to receive your Social Security spousal benefits, your FRA is 67. If that’s the case, you can lose six months of Social Security benefits.
Social Security spousal benefits regulations might be a little complicated. Therefore, the best course of action is to attempt to become acquainted with them before retiring. In this manner, not only may unpleasant shocks be avoided, but you may also be able to prevent a situation in which you lose money.
