Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Wife claim my Social Security?
Old 04-20-2021, 07:42 AM   #1
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 743
Wife claim my Social Security?

My wife was a stay at home mom and here SS is less than half of mine. Someone was saying there may be an advantage for her to claim my SS while I keep deferring? Is that a thing?
qwerty3656 is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 04-20-2021, 07:46 AM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
SecondCor521's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Boise
Posts: 7,862
She can claim spousal benefits which would be half of your benefit. I believe you can continue to wait to claim benefits on your record while she collects those spousal benefits, but I'm not 100% sure.

Your questions are probably answered in this article (but I didn't read to make sure):

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/ans...l-security.asp
__________________
"At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe us when we say there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough, and what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events, may in fact be the first steps of a journey." Violet Baudelaire.
SecondCor521 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 07:57 AM   #3
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ivinsfan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 9,940
As in all things SS that depends on your ages. You both would need to be 62 by 1/1/2016 for this to apply to you and your spouse.
ivinsfan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 08:11 AM   #4
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 743
Quote:
Originally Posted by ivinsfan View Post
As in all things SS that depends on your ages. You both would need to be 62 by 1/1/2016 for this to apply to you and your spouse.
Well we are only 58 now - I'm just starting to think about such things
qwerty3656 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 08:16 AM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ivinsfan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 9,940
Quote:
Originally Posted by qwerty3656 View Post
Well we are only 58 now - I'm just starting to think about such things



My best advice would be to not listen to random someones giving you tips
ivinsfan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 08:40 AM   #6
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
MissMolly's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,130
She cannot claim spousal SS until you begin drawing.
__________________
And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.- Desiderata by Max Ehrmann
MissMolly is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 08:44 AM   #7
Confused about dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: NY
Posts: 3
Agree with MissMolly. Your wife can claim her own SS at 62, but she has to wait for you to start drawing your SS to claim spousal.
LMR1229 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 08:53 AM   #8
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Out-to-Lunch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Milwaukee
Posts: 3,938
Try Open Social Security for suggested claiming strategies: Open Social Security: Free, Open-Source Social Security Calculator
__________________
The closing years of life are like the end of a masquerade party, when the masks are dropped. -Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher (1788-1860)
Out-to-Lunch is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 09:03 AM   #9
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Sunset's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Spending the Kids Inheritance and living in Chicago
Posts: 16,972
Quote:
Originally Posted by ivinsfan View Post
My best advice would be to not listen to random someones giving you tips
That's a good tip...
__________________
Fortune favors the prepared mind. ... Louis Pasteur
Sunset is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 10:35 AM   #10
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
travelover's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunset View Post
That's a good tip...
....from a random somebody......
travelover is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 10:41 AM   #11
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ivinsfan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 9,940
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelover View Post
....from a random somebody......

We're not random somebodies, I was talking about someone you know throwing out an unsolicited tip about SS claiming.
ivinsfan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 10:45 AM   #12
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
SecondCor521's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Boise
Posts: 7,862
Quote:
Originally Posted by ivinsfan View Post
My best advice would be to not listen to random someones giving you tips
I can't tell if I should follow this advice or not!
__________________
"At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe us when we say there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough, and what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events, may in fact be the first steps of a journey." Violet Baudelaire.
SecondCor521 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 10:59 AM   #13
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ivinsfan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 9,940
Quote:
Originally Posted by SecondCor521 View Post
I can't tell if I should follow this advice or not!
The good thing is the comment led the OP here to ask his question. At late 60s/early70s I can't tell you the amount of time fellow oldsters have proclaimed things about SS that are 100% wrong. This board was my number one resource to separate the truth from the B$...
ivinsfan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 11:09 AM   #14
Full time employment: Posting here.
lemming's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 594
The trouble with this is that it only changed in 2014/15 and everyone will swear that they are right because they or their brother did it back in the day. Always go to the source if you want current rules.'
There are people still trying to use the old primary residence rules of reinvesting in new property that changed 25 years ago.
__________________
.
lemming is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 11:37 AM   #15
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
pb4uski's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,204
Quote:
Originally Posted by qwerty3656 View Post
My wife was a stay at home mom and here SS is less than half of mine. Someone was saying there may be an advantage for her to claim my SS while I keep deferring? Is that a thing?
As others have posted, it doesn't work that way for people your age. She will get SS based on her own work record. Once you file, her SS will increase for the difference between 50% of your PIA and her PIA. PIA is primary insurance amount, the retirement benefits that you are due at your full retiremnt age (FRA).

So for example, let's say her PIA is $500/month and yours is $2,500/month. She claims before her FRA and is receiving $400/month. Then you claim at your FRA.

After you claim, her benefit will increase by $750 from $400/month to $1,150/month. The $100/month discount because she claimed earlier than her FRA permanently affects her benefit.

Something like that anyway. I second the recommendation to visit opensocialsecurlty.com to optimize your benefit... be sure to checked the advanced options box at the top of the page and select the factors that might impact your situation.

And consistent with post#5, this advice is worth everything that you paid for it and YMMV.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.

Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
pb4uski is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 11:47 AM   #16
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1,566
My wife gets 50% of my FRA benefit. In order to do this she had to wait until her FRA and I had to start my benefit also.
homestead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 04:04 PM   #17
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
pb4uski's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,204
^^^ Yup... totally consistent with my understanding.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.

Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
pb4uski is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 04:53 PM   #18
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Out of Steam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 1,635
Quote:
Originally Posted by Out-to-Lunch View Post
Try Open Social Security for suggested claiming strategies: Open Social Security: Free, Open-Source Social Security Calculator
One thing I've learned since I started looking at Social Security (including running strategies on Open Social Security), is that it is not a simple program. Especially once you start considering spousal benefits.
Out of Steam is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2021, 11:48 AM   #19
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
pb4uski's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,204
And it's even more complicated under the covers. My understanding is what they do is that they project the cash flows for each possible claiming strategy... So claiming each month between 62 if you're currently under 62 and age 70. Of course if you have a married couple and two people, there many more possible claiming strategies. Then they multiply those cash outflows by the probability of one or the other of you being alive to receive them. And then they discount the adjusted cash outflows for the time value of money. And they do that for many many possible sequences and see which one comes out the winner.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.

Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
pb4uski is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2021, 12:02 PM   #20
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Out-to-Lunch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Milwaukee
Posts: 3,938
Quote:
Originally Posted by pb4uski View Post
And it's even more complicated under the covers. My understanding is what they do is that they project the cash flows for each possible claiming strategy... So claiming each month between 62 if you're currently under 62 and age 70. Of course if you have a married couple and two people, there many more possible claiming strategies. Then they multiply those cash outflows by the probability of one or the other of you being alive to receive them. And then they discount the adjusted cash outflows for the time value of money. And they do that for many many possible sequences and see which one comes out the winner.
That is my understanding, too.

If anyone hasn't looked at it in the last year or so (I think?), Obvlibious Investor (AKA, Mike Piper, who runs the site) added a wonderful feature for married couples. In addition to showing what he calculates to be the optimal ages for the couple to claim, he shows you a matrix of all the possible claiming ages. You can then easily see how sensitive the expected-value outcome is to claiming strategies.

For example, for us, the optimal was me to claim at 70, and DW to claim at 62. But as long as I claim at 70, the age she chooses does not reduce the optimum very much, like <5% or so.
__________________
The closing years of life are like the end of a masquerade party, when the masks are dropped. -Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher (1788-1860)
Out-to-Lunch is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Started Social Social Security at age 62 but my break even date is well into my 80s Retired and Restless FIRE and Money 96 12-24-2016 11:49 AM
Age of First Claim for Social Security! Midpack FIRE and Money 39 05-20-2013 07:58 AM
Worst times to claim Social Security Stanley FIRE and Money 3 03-19-2013 01:55 PM
Social Security for wife F4mandolin FIRE and Money 17 03-03-2013 01:22 PM
Can a housewife claim that she is retired by making her husband a houseman? Chan Hi, I am... 3 05-05-2006 01:56 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:04 PM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.