Social Security for wife

Hi,

this may not be related to investing per se but I guess when I take social security will impact how I invest and plan for retirement.

I can take social security. My wife is a homemaker and has not worked outside the house. Can she collect social security on my account (benefit for spouse and/or family)?

If I take it at 70yol to get the maximum payout, could she collect her s.s. benefit (if she can) before I take it when she reaches 62yol and how is the amount determined?

tj

If your wife has less than 40 quarters of earnings from her jobs, including self employment, that meet the minimum income required for that quarter to ‘count’, then she will not be eligible for a SS benefit based on her record. But if you, her spouse, does have sufficient working quarters for your benefit, then she will be eligible for a spousal benefits. If she waits to begin this benefit until her full retirement age, she will receive 50% of your primary insurance amount, or PIA, where the PIA is the amount you’d receive if you began at your full retirement age. And you must have begun your benefit before she can begin a spousal benefits. If she begins a spousal benefit prior to her full retirement age but at or after when she attains age 62 her spousal benefit will be reduced. However, she will get no increase in her spousal benefit if she delays it past her full retirement age.

BruceM

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And if she was married to a previous spouse for 10 years, she can collect on his record.

And if she was married to a previous spouse for 10 years, she can collect on his record. - pauleckler


This is a good segue into a question I have had for a long time.

Is the amount the ten year spouse can collect based on the previous spouse’s earnings only for the period they were married? In other words, if his earnings spiked years after the divorce, does she get a higher amount even though they were not married when those higher earnings occurred?

“And if she was married to a previous spouse for 10 years, she can collect on his record.”

I think that only works if she did not remarry after

t.

And if she was married to a previous spouse for 10 years, she can collect on his record.

Not if she’s remarried. Since she’s married now, even if she had a previous spouse, she’s obviously remarried. This has actually led to a number of older couples living together, rather than marrying.

AJ

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Is the amount the ten year spouse can collect based on the previous spouse’s earnings only for the period they were married?

No. It’s based on his PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), which is based on his entire SS earnings record.

In other words, if his earnings spiked years after the divorce, does she get a higher amount even though they were not married when those higher earnings occurred?

Yes.

AJ

1 Like

Is the amount the ten year spouse can collect based on the previous spouse’s earnings only for the period they were married?

No. It’s based on his PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), which is based on his entire SS earnings record.

In other words, if his earnings spiked years after the divorce, does she get a higher amount even though they were not married when those higher earnings occurred?

Yes.

AJ

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Thanks AJ, I tried to research this but there so much out there and none of seemed to address this question. I do have one followup.

I read multiple places about the ten year spouse cannot collect if she re-marries. But it never says what if that second marriage dissolves? Is the first spouse out of the picture even if the second marriage only lasts a few years? Or can she file on either spouse, whichever yields the largest benefit?

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I read multiple places about the ten year spouse cannot collect if she re-marries. But it never says what if that second marriage dissolves? Is the first spouse out of the picture even if the second marriage only lasts a few years? Or can she file on either spouse, whichever yields the largest benefit?

Someone who has been married and divorced twice (or even 3 or 4 times) and is not currently married, may claim on the record of whichever ex-spouse gives them the largest benefit, providing that the marriage to that spouse lasted at least 10 years.

Please keep in mind that benefits provided to a former spouse have no impact on the benefits the worker (and their current family if they have remarried) will receive. So it shouldn’t be of any concern to the worker whether or not their record is being used to claim by an ex-spouse.

AJ

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Someone who has been married and divorced twice (or even 3 or 4 times) and is not currently married, may claim on the record of whichever ex-spouse gives them the largest benefit, providing that the marriage to that spouse lasted at least 10 years. - AJ


Thanks AJ, clear and succinct. You should write for the SSA.

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Think of Elizabeth Taylor. Married 7 times but only one marriage (Richard Burton) lasted over 10 years. Had, say, 4 marriages lasted at least 10 years and she was single when 62 or older, she could pick the largest PIA of the group to base her spousal benefit on.

Another interesting tidbit on former spousal retirement benefits is that unlike the married spouse, the former spouse does not have to have began his benefit for the divorced spouse to be eligible for the divorced spouse benefit and it doesn’t matter if the former spouse has remarried and/or whether the former spouse or his new spouse is receiving a benefit based on the former spouses’s PIA.

BruceM