My wife began her SS annuity at age 62 and receives much less than half of my annuity which I began at 65. We didn't know she could receive half of my payments. Should we have been notified at my retirement that she was eligible for half of mine? Can it be corrected? We are both 84.

Hi,

Your wife isn't necessarily eligible for half of your benefit amount as a spouse. The only way that your wife would qualify for spousal benefits on your account is if 50% of your primary insurance amount (PIA) is higher than her PIA. And, even if your wife does qualify for spousal benefits, she wouldn't get a full half of your benefit rate because she filed for her own benefits at age 62.

To illustrate how spousal benefits work, I'll give you an example. Say Mary files for her Social Security retirement benefits 3 years prior to her full retirement age (FRA). Mary's PIA, which is equal to the amount that she'd be paid if she waited until FRA to apply, is $800. However, Mary receives a reduced rate of $640 (i.e. 20% less than her PIA) in return for starting her benefits early.

After Mary reaches FRA, her husband applies for his Social Security retirement benefits. Mary's husband's PIA is $2000, and he receives that full amount because he waited until his FRA to apply. Mary's spousal benefit is calculated by subtracting her PIA from 50% of her husband's PIA, which in Mary's case is $200 (i.e. $2000/2 - $800). That amount would then be added to Mary's own reduced rate of $640 to give her a combined benefit amount of $840.

So, as you can see from the example above, Mary is not eligible for a full half of her husband's benefit amount because she took her own benefits at age 62 while her husband waited until FRA to start his benefits. Instead, Mary is stuck with the 20% reduction that she took to start her own benefits early.

I don't have enough information to know whether or not your wife can qualify for any additional spousal benefits from your account, but even if she does qualify she won't get a full half of your benefit amount because she'll be stuck with the reduction that she took to start drawing her own benefits early. Fortunately, though, that reduction wouldn't reduce your wife's potential survivor rate. If you die before your wife she'll be eligible for your full benefit rate as a widow. She won't get your full benefit rate plus her own benefit, though, just the higher of the two benefit amounts.

If you think that your wife may qualify for spousal benefits, she should contact Social Security as soon as possible in order to apply for benefits. If she does qualify, retroactive payments are normally limited to 6 months prior to the month of filing. However, if your wife was eligible for spousal benefits when you applied for your benefits, then you may have established a protective filing on her behalf that could allow additional retroactivity.

Best, Jerry