Spousal benefits.
In plain English
A spousal benefit is a Social Security payment you can receive based on your husband's or wife's earnings record instead of your own. At your full retirement age it can be worth up to 50 percent of your spouse's full benefit. It is designed for people who earned little or nothing themselves, or far less than their partner. Your spouse generally must have already claimed their own benefit for you to collect a spousal amount. If your own benefit is larger, Social Security pays your own; you do not get both stacked on top of each other.
01Why it matters
If you spent years out of the paid workforce or earned much less than your partner, this benefit can mean real monthly income you would otherwise miss, so it is worth checking before either of you claims.
02The math, step by step
Imagine one spouse has a full benefit of $2,400 a month and the other worked part time with a small benefit of $600. The lower earner can claim a spousal benefit of up to half the higher earner's full amount, which would be $1,200, rather than settling for their own $600. Claiming the spousal amount before full retirement age reduces it.
03What this is NOT
It is not the same as a survivor benefit. A spousal benefit is paid while both partners are alive and tops out at half the worker's full amount. A survivor benefit is paid after the worker dies and can be worth up to the full amount.
04Receipts
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Plain-English answers from our glossary. Receipts included. Never advice.
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