Spouse Applying For Social Security In Washington
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FAQ
Indeed, here are three ways you can lose at least part of your Social Security benefit. No. 1: Keep working while taking benefits early. No. 2: Be a substantially lower-earning spouse. No. 3: Be alive in 2034. Social Security still provides an important foundation for retirement.
Social Security covers both spouses, regardless of whether one or both brought home a paycheck over the years. A married person may collect benefits based on their own earnings or receive a maximum of 50% of their spouse's Social Security benefits, whichever is greater.
If you get Social Security disability or retirement benefits and you marry, your benefit will stay the same. However, other benefits such as SSI, Survivors, Divorced Spouses, and Child's benefits may be affected.
A Social Security spousal rule that was around for decades ended this year for the last eligible retirees — those who turned 70 on Jan. 1, 2024. The rule allowed recipients to switch between their benefits and their spouses' to receive the maximum amount. But unless you were born before Jan.
The first exception, which can be deemed as the Social Security spousal benefits loophole, works where an individual who remarries at 60 or later may still be entitled to Social Security survivors' benefits if the second marriage ends before the death of the first spouse.
Social Security Strategies for Spouses With the first strategy, sometimes called the “62/70 split,” the lower-earning spouse takes Social Security as early as age 62 and the higher-earning spouse postpones filing until age 70 to maximize his or her benefit.
Either spouse can maximize their regular Social Security benefit amount by waiting past their full-retirement age to apply, up to age 70. Benefits generally increase 8% each year filing is delayed.
Once she has turned 62 she will have a choice to make. She can either take her earned benefit for the level at that age OR she can choose to take the Spousal Benefit, which is roughly 1/2 of your benefit.
If the older spouse is the higher earner, it could be beneficial for them to delay taking benefits until age 70. The benefit will grow by about 8% for each year of delay, and the survivor benefit will also be higher.
