Ask the Expert: Spouses' Social Security

Mary is 62 and her husband, John, is 60. Mary doesn't qualify for Social Security on her own record. Now that she's 62, can she start collecting on John's record?

Sorry, but no.

To collect Social Security based on your spouse's work record during his or her lifetime, you must meet four requirements.

1) You've been married at least one year.

2) You're at least 62 years old.

3) The benefit you're entitled to receive as a spouse is greater than your benefit based on your own work record. The most you can receive is the larger of the two amounts. If your spousal benefit is $800, but your own benefit is $1,000, for example, you'll receive $1,000.

4) Your spouse has filed for Social Security.

Mary meets only the first three requirements. She and John have probably been married longer than a year, she's 62 and she has no benefit of her own. But John hasn't yet applied for Social Security. Indeed, he can't do so until he's at least 62. If he applies then, she can, too. At 64, she'll get about 42 percent of John's full retirement benefit; at 62, she'd receive only 35 percent. (Her benefit has no effect on the amount John receives. To collect the maximum -- 50 percent of John's benefit -- Mary would have to delay her application until she turns 66.) But there's a downside: If John takes Social Security at 62, his benefit check will always be 25 percent smaller than if he waits until full retirement age to apply for it. And at 62, he can't file for Social Security to greenlight Mary's spousal benefit, and then suspend his application to keep his own benefit growing. To "file and suspend," he must be 66.

The bottom line The Social Security rules work better for couples when the primary wage earner is the older spouse.

Websites with more information 1.usa.gov/IxJlLf and aarp.us/d20jce