When can a spouse start collecting his or her Social Security spousal benefit? A wife can start collecting Social Security spousal benefits only when the following conditions are satisfied:
1. The spouse applying for the spousal benefit needs to be at least age 62
2. The husband must be eligible for benefits, consequently he must also be at least age 62. Additionally, the husband will have to actually apply for Social Security retirement benefits in order for his wife to collect based on his income. The husband may then decide to postpone receiving benefits. This strategy is referred to as “file and suspend”.
To provide an example, if the wife is 62 and the husband is 59, the wife can begin receiving benefits based on her own earnings, but she is unable to receive benefits based on her husband’s earnings until he turns 62 and applies for benefits.
Then again, if the wife is age 66 and her spouse is 62, then the wife can start receiving calculated on her husband’s income (remember, the husband will have to sign up for his Social Security before his wife can collect based upon his earnings).
In both cases stated above, the wife can begin receiving benefits based on her own earnings as soon as she turns 62 (assuming she’s got at a minimum forty quarters and qualifies for benefits on her own), then switch to half of her husband’s benefit once her husband qualifies for Social Security.
A few points to take into account before applying for benefits:
If a wife applies for Social Security spousal benefits based on her husband’s earnings when she attains full retirement age (age 66 for people retiring now), then she will collect 50% of her husband’s primary insurance amount (PIA). On the other hand, if she applies at age 62, then her benefit will only be 35% of her husband’s PIA.
It doesn’t help the spouse to wait until after reaching full retirement age to apply for benefits, as spousal benefits do not include delayed credits. What’s more, it does not help the wife if the husband waits to apply for benefits because she won’t receive any increase in benefits that he will get by waiting to collect benefits.
Where a spouse gets to full retirement age and becomes qualified to receive the spousal benefit or her own benefit, she may start collecting the spousal benefit now and hold off taking her own benefit in order to accumulate delayed credits on her own benefit.
You can collect Social Security spousal benefits calculated on an ex-spouse’s income if you were married for a minimum of ten years and you are also currently unmarried. In case you have more than one ex-spouse which you meet the requirements pertaining to spousal benefits, you’ll receive the highest benefit you are entitled to. One edge that divorced spouses have over married spouses is that a divorced spouse doesn’t need to wait around for a former husband to start collecting benefits as long as the pair has been divorced not less than 2 yrs when she applies.
Finally, the Social Security retirement program is gender neutral, so while this article has assumed that the wife is generally the one applying for spousal benefits, if the wife earns more than the husband, the husband can apply for spousal benefits based on his wife’s earnings.
Get the maximum Social Security retirement benefits you can qualify for, including when to start collecting benefits, what Social Security spousal benefits are and much more.
Incoming search terms for the article:
- social security spousal benefits rules
- file and suspend at 62
- sterling health plans scams
- can wife collect on her social and then change at 66
- file and suspend social security benefits
- social security spousal benefit rules
- file and suspend at age 62
- Making the Most of Social Security
- can a spouse receive social security benefits based on her husband if she is at retirement age and he is not?
- for social security if a wife begins to collect at 62 and becomes a survivor at 66 will her amount from husband be less
Leave a comment