The amount someone receives in Social Security benefits is based largely on their career earnings. The more someone makes, the more they can expect in benefits, up to a certain point. However, one problem with tying career earnings to Social Security is that there are plenty of people who don't work for various reasons (including parenting and health), or who have a limited work history.
To help in such cases, Social Security offers spousal benefits, which allow someone to claim benefits based on their partner's work history. This is a great benefit for couples where one spouse doesn't work, or where one spouse considerably outearns the other.
As of the end of July, over 2 million people are receiving spousal benefits, so it's clear that this benefit has worked out in many people's favor. If claiming spousal benefits sounds like something that could be beneficial based on your personal situation, read on to see who qualifies.
Image source: Getty Images.
How to qualify for Social Security spousal benefits
There are three main requirements that must be met to be eligible for spousal benefits:
- You must be married (typically for at least a year), or be divorced after having been married for at least 10 years. If you remarry, you're no longer eligible for spousal benefits based on your ex-spouse's work history.
- The primary claiming spouse must currently be receiving benefits. Note: If you're receiving spousal benefits and then your spouse decides to suspend their benefits (which people may do to receive delayed retirement credits), your spousal benefits will also be suspended.
- You must be at least 62 years old, caring for a child under age 16, or caring for a child with a disability that began before age 22.
It's not a hard requirement, but you should make sure that your monthly benefits by claiming benefits based on your work history are lower than what you'd receive from spousal benefits. If not, there's no real reason to go the spousal benefit route.
To get an idea of how much you could expect by claiming benefits based on your own earnings record, check out your "Social Security Statement" on the Social Security Administration (SSA) website. If you haven't already, create an account, and from there, you should be able to see your earnings report (and verify it for accuracy), along with benefit estimates based on your claiming age.
How much you can expect to receive in spousal benefits
By claiming spousal benefits, you're eligible to receive up to 50% of your partner's primary insurance amount (PIA), which is the monthly amount someone will receive if they claim benefits at their full retirement age (FRA).
For example, if your spouse claims benefits at FRA and receives $2,000 monthly, you'd be eligible to receive $1,000 monthly at your own FRA. However, as with standard benefits, claiming spousal benefits before your own FRA will reduce the monthly amount you receive.
Below you can see how benefit reductions differ between standard benefits and spousal benefits for someone who's FRA is 67:
| Claiming Age | Standard Benefit Reduction | Spousal Benefit Reduction |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | 30% | 35% |
| 63 | 25% | 30% |
| 64 | 20% | 25% |
| 65 | 13.3% | 16.7% |
| 66 | 6.7% | 8.3% |
Data source: Social Security Administration.
Continuing our above example, if you were eligible for $1,000 in benefits at FRA of 67, claiming at 64 would mean you'd receive $750, and claiming at 62 would mean you'd receive $650. Here are FRAs based on your birth year:
Image source: The Motley Fool.
An important thing to note is that, unlike with standard benefits, you won't receive delayed retirement credits if you delay claiming spousal benefits past your FRA. If you know you're going to claim spousal benefits, your FRA should be the latest you do so because there's no benefit in waiting after that.
