When you’re planning for retirement, it is essential to consider how your Social Security benefits will impact your spouse. Here’s a simplified breakdown:
Spousal Benefit Basics:
- If you and your spouse are at full retirement age, your spouse can receive up to 50% of your full retirement benefit.
- If you’re eligible for both your own retirement benefit and a spouse’s benefit, your own benefit will be paid first.
- Your spouse can only receive benefits if you are already receiving your retirement benefits (with exceptions for divorced spouses).
- If you start receiving reduced retirement benefits before your spouse reaches retirement age, your own retirement portion stays reduced, resulting in a combined benefit of less than 50% of your earnings.
You can find out more by visiting the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) website.
Survivor Benefits:
- If your spouse’s retirement benefit is higher than yours and they choose to take reduced benefits and pass away first, your survivor benefit may be reduced but could still be higher than what they received.
Retirement Insurance Benefit Limit:
- If the deceased worker started receiving reduced retirement benefits before full retirement age, there’s a limit on the survivor benefit for the spouse.
- The limit is typically the higher of the reduced monthly benefit the deceased spouse would have received if they had lived or 82.5% of the unreduced monthly benefit if they started at full retirement age.
Understanding how your financial decisions affect your spouse’s benefits is crucial for your financial well-being.
You can access a wealth of useful information by visiting the SSA’s benefits planners page.
