Social Security serves as a financial lifeline for millions of retired seniors. And while it's generally best not to retire on Social Security alone, if you were a higher earner, your monthly retirement benefit might be quite substantial. But if you were a lower earner throughout your career, your monthly Social Security benefit may not end up being much to write home about.
In some cases, though, you can snag more money from Social Security even if your lifetime wages aren't substantial. That's because you may be able to use a spousal benefit to bump your payments up.
Image source: Getty Images.
When you can claim Social Security on a spouse's record
If you're married to someone who's eligible for Social Security, you have the option to claim a spousal benefit on their work record. That spousal benefit will give you 50% of the benefit your spouse is eligible for. And that 50% may be higher than 100% of your monthly benefit.
So, let's say you're entitled to $1,200 a month from Social Security, but your spouse is eligible for a $3,000 monthly benefit. If you claim a spousal benefit, your monthly payments from Social Security will be bumped up by $300 to $1,500. It's that simple.
Now that said, there are a couple of rules you'll need to follow when claiming a spousal benefit. First, you must wait for your spouse to file for Social Security for you to claim a benefit on their record (this assumes you're still married; the rules are different when you're filing for spousal benefits as a divorcee).
Second, you can only collect one benefit a month from Social Security -- either your benefit based on your earnings history or a spousal benefit. Double dipping is not allowed. So basically, you'll get the higher of the two options.
Don't assume your benefit will be minimal
If you don't have the most robust earnings history, then you may not be entitled to all that much money from Social Security. But that doesn't mean that a spousal benefit won't leave you with a much higher monthly-income stream.
Of course, there are other steps you can take to score a higher benefit from Social Security based on your own earnings record. Delaying your filing beyond full retirement age, for example, could help you snag a permanent boost to your monthly benefit.
You should know, however, that there's no sense in delaying a spousal benefit claim, because spousal benefits can't accrue delayed retirement credits the same way a benefit based on your own work record can. As such, once you make the decision to claim a spousal benefit from Social Security, you should also plan to take it once your full retirement age arrives, provided your spouse files by then.
Finally, if you're divorced, it's important to read up on how Social Security spousal benefits will work for you. You can generally claim a spousal benefit on an ex-spouse's record if you were married for 10 years and have not since remarried.
