When a 62-year-old woman recently applied for social security, she expected to receive half of her husband’s monthly compensation from $ 3,200 or up to $ 1600. But to her surprise, the Social Security Administration approved only $ 1,000.
Looking for answers, she turned to R/SocialSecurity Subreddit. In her publication, she explained that her husband, who was already 76, had waited until the age of 70 to ask for his benefit – a strategy that won him a delay in retirement loans and intensified his monthly check. However, she believed that she should receive half of his sum.
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A Reddit user replied with a detailed explanation – and the mathematics behind him – clarifying where her expectations missed the sign.
A common misconception is that the spouse is automatically entitled to 50% of the benefit of social security for his partner. In fact, spouse benefits are calculated on the basis of what is known as the main insurance amount or PIA – the amount your husband would receive at full retirement age and not in the actual benefit they receive if they delay the request.
In this case, the spouse of the woman waited until the age of 70 to request benefits, increasing his repayment through late retirement loans. But spouse benefits do not take into account these loans. They are calculated using its PIA, the benefit it would receive at the age of 66.
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A commentator on the Reddit thread has made it clear, suggesting that the spouse’s benefit is the amount before the deduction of Medicare and the rounding of dollars:
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Her husband’s current benefit is $ 3212.
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This amount includes late retirement loans – an increase of about 32% over its PIA.
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This means that his Pia is closer to $ 2433.
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Half of this PIA is $ 1.216.50 – the maximum benefit for spouses he can receive if he waits for his own full retirement age.
But she wasn’t waiting. She applied for benefits at the age of 62, which caused a lasting early retirement reduction of about 30%.
So her married benefit would be reduced to about $ 851. But here’s the catch: She already qualifies for $ 1,000 for her own profit records.