Hi Larry, I'm ten years older than my ex-husband of twenty years and I'm starting to file for retirement benefits. I'm getting conflicting information about how much my spousal benefit should be since my ex-husband is not retirement age. Will my benefit be reduced due to my ex-husband not being at full retirement age? Thanks, Vickie
Hi Vickie. Your ex-husband's age wouldn't be a factor in determining your benefit rate as a divorced spouse, but you can't qualify for divorced spousal benefits while your ex-spouse is living unless BOTH of you are at least age 62 or if your ex-spouse is drawing Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits.
If you're 10 years older than your ex-spouse, and assuming that he isn't disabled, then you'll have reached full retirement age (FRA) before your ex reaches age 62. Therefore, it sounds like any divorced spousal benefits that you could collect would not be reduced for age. However, you could only qualify for divorced spousal benefits if your ex's primary insurance amount (PIA) is more than twice as much as your own PIA. And, if you start drawing your own benefits prior to FRA, you'll keep the resulting reduction in your benefit rate for as long as both you and your ex are still living.
For example, say Mary files for her Social Security retirement benefits at age 62. Mary's PIA is $800, but Mary's benefit rate is reduced for age to $563. Ten years later Mary's ex-husband turns age 62. His PIA is $2000, so since Mary's PIA is less than half of her ex's PIA she can qualify for divorced spousal benefits. Mary's unreduced excess divorced spousal benefit would then be calculated by subtracting her PIA from 50% of her husband's PIA, which in Mary's case amounts to $200 (i.e. $2000/2 - $800). Since Mary is already full retirement age when she becomes eligible for her divorced spousal benefit her divorced spousal rate isn't reduced for age. However, the reduction in Mary's own benefit rate would continue, resulting in a combined benefit rate of $763 (i.e. $563 + $200).
You may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.
Best, Jerry
