Christy Bieber, The Motley Fool
5 min read
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Spousal benefits can be more valuable than your own retirement benefits if your spouse was a higher earner.
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There are rules about when you can claim spousal benefits that you'll want to be aware of ahead of time.
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Decisions you make regarding your spousal benefits could also affect the amount of money you receive.
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The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook ›
Deciding when to claim Social Security benefits is often complicated since you can start your checks any time between 62 and 70, and the decision impacts both lifetime and monthly benefits. The choice becomes even more complex if you're married because it's possible one spouse may want to claim spousal benefits instead of retirement benefits.
Spousal benefits are calculated based on a spouse's work history instead of the claimant's work record. If you were a lower earner, you might benefit from getting benefits based on your spouse's salary record. However, there are a lot of rules that affect how much money spousal benefits can provide and when you are eligible for them.
As a result, married couples should make sure they understand the details about how spousal benefits work before either partner makes a benefits claim. In particular, there are three big facts that married couples must know.
One of the first and most important things that married couples must be aware of is that it's not possible to claim spousal benefits until the spouse whose record the benefits are being claimed under has filed for their retirement benefits to begin.
Say, for example, you were a stay-at-home wife, and your husband earned a lot more than you, so you want to claim spousal benefits. You would have to wait until your husband claimed his retirement checks. This is the case no matter how old you are. So, if you turned 66 and your husband was 69, and you wanted to claim spousal benefits, but he was holding off on getting his retirement checks until 70, you would have to wait another year.
It doesn't matter if your spouse has actually retired yet -- your husband could still work, and you could collect your spousal benefits -- but he must have started his Social Security payments, or you can't start yours.
Now, a lower earner can file for their own benefits, based on their own work record, as soon as they turn 62. So, if you had worked and earned enough to qualify for your own payment, you could file and accept the benefits you personally earned. Then, when your spouse does claim retirement checks, you can switch over to spousal benefits at that point.
