Ask the Expert: Applying for Social Security spousal benefits
I took Social Security at 64. My wife filed for a spousal benefit at 66, and received 50 percent of my benefit. At 70, she switched to her own benefit, which is bigger because she waited until 70. It's now more than double mine. Can I now apply for a spousal benefit and receive more than I currently get under my own account?
You can apply for a spousal benefit; but you won't get half the amount your wife now collects.
Everyone who files for Social Security before full retirement age (FRA, for short) is automatically applying for all the benefits they're eligible for. They get an amount equal to the largest — and they can't reapply later. But when you took Social Security at 64, you weren't yet eligible for a spousal benefit, since your wife hadn't yet filed on her account. That's why you can file for it now.
But it will be less than you assume, for two reasons.
1. The maximum spousal benefit is 50 percent of your husband or wife's benefit at his or her FRA. It never includes any delayed retirement credits your mate earned by postponing Social Security. (Survivor benefits do include those credits.)
2. You won't qualify for the 50 percent maximum spousal benefit because you applied early for your own benefit. Here's the formula: Let's say at FRA, your benefit would have been $1,000; but you applied at 64, so you got $867. If your wife's benefit at her FRA was $2,500, your maximum spousal benefit is $1,250. The Social Security Administration determines your actual spousal benefit by subtracting the $1,000 you'd have received at FRA from your $1,250 maximum potential spousal benefit. The answer is $250 — so your $867 monthly check is therefore increased by $250. You would get $1,117.
The bottom line
Early application reduces Social Security benefits.
