How The Social Security Spousal Benefit Works
Can a spouse collect on her husband's social security if she reaches retirement age before her husband? No. In order for a wife to collect Social Security benefits on her husband's income several requirements will have to be met:
1. The spouse applying for the spousal benefit is required to be at least age 62
2. The husband must be eligible to receive benefits, so he should also be at least age 62. Also, the husband is required to actually apply for Social Security retirement benefits in order for his wife to receive benefits based on his income. The husband can then elect to delay receiving benefits. This course of action is known as "file and suspend".
To provide you with an example, if the wife is 62 and the husband is 60, the wife can begin collecting benefits calculated on her own income, but she won't be able receive benefits based on her husband's earnings until he turns 62 and starts receiving his own benefits.
However, if the wife is age 66 and the husband is only 62, then the wife can start collecting based on her husband's income (remember, the husband must sign up for benefits before his spouse will be able to collect based on his earnings).
In the instances above, the wife can begin receiving benefits calculated on her own income as soon as she turns age 62 (assuming she has at least forty quarters of earnings and qualifies for benefits on her own), then she can change over to half of her husband's benefit once her husband qualifies for Social Security.
A number of points to consider before applying for benefits:
If a wife applies for her Social Security spousal benefit as determined by her husband's earnings when she becomes full retirement age (age 66 for folks retiring now), then she'll receive 50% of her husband's primary insurance amount (PIA). On the other hand, if she applies for her spousal benefit at age 62, her benefit will be reduced to just 35% of her husband's PIA.
It does not help the spouse to wait until after reaching full retirement age to apply for benefits, as spousal benefits will not include delayed credits. Furthermore, it doesn't benefit the wife if the husband waits to apply for benefits because she will not get any increase in benefits that he will get by waiting to receive benefits.
Where a spouse reaches full retirement age and is qualified to apply for the spousal benefit or her own benefit, she may claim the spousal benefit now and postpone taking her own benefit in order to accumulate delayed credits on her own benefit.
An individual can collect Social Security spousal benefits determined by an ex-spouse's earnings so long as you were married for not less than 10 years and you are also currently unmarried. For people with more than one ex-spouse which you meet the requirements regarding spousal benefits, you will get the largest benefit you qualify for. One edge that divorced spouses have over married spouses is that a divorced spouse does not need to wait around for a former husband to start receiving benefits as long as the couple has been divorced for a minimum of 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 makes more than her husband, the husband can sign up for Social Security benefits based on his wife's earnings.
How The Social Security Spousal Benefit Works
Can a spouse collect on her husband's social security if she reaches retirement age before her husband? No. In order for a wife to collect Social Security benefits on her husband's earnings the following requirements must be met:
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