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MariaS517070
Contributor ⭐
October 17, 2024

social security for spouse

  • October 17, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 1346 views

My wife will reach FRA 6/2025 she will draw on my earning history. Will she be qualified for 1/2 what my SS payment was in 2019 or will it be adjusted for COLAs that have taken  place since that time?

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      2 replies

      fffred
      fffred
      Conversationalist ⭐⭐⭐
      October 17, 2024

      @MariaS517070 Spouse will get 50% of your current benefit including previous COLAs.

      Exceptions include if you yourself have Delayed Retirement Credits (because you took your SS benefit after your FRA) the spouse's benefit is not eligible for these (widow's benefit does include the DRCs)

      Good luck!

      fffred
      fffred
      Conversationalist ⭐⭐⭐
      October 17, 2024

      @MariaS517070 The SSA used to have a helpful booklet (pdf form) on their site describing spousal benefits. I can't seem to find this right now; I wanted to provide a link to their official documentation addressing your question. I've observed that they've made a lot of changes to the site over the past year and seem to have removed a lot of good information.

      This article is from a reputable website and describes an overview of the SSA rules (there's probably a similar article on AARP's site) see https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/social-security-spousal-benefits/?tpt=a. This states “Spousal benefits are capped at half your spouse’s benefit at [your] full retirement age. If [the worker] waits beyond that to claim, the spousal benefit cannot grow further,” They also direct to a page on the SSA that provides an estimate of the benefit amount, see https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/quickcalc/spouse.html

      And these guys discuss how the COLA is applied to the worker's PIA https://www.westernsouthern.com/retirement/what-is-social-security-cola

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