Can I Claim My Own SS Benefit Now and Get Half of My Husband’s Benefit Later?

Dear Uncertain: As you may know, the full retirement age (FRA) for both you and your husband is 67. If either of you claim before your FRA your monthly SS retirement amount will be permanently reduced and, if you are currently working, you will be subject to Social Security’s Annual Earnings Test (AET) which limits how much you can earn while collecting early benefits. The earnings limit for early filers is $23,400 for 2025 (changes yearly) and, if that is exceeded, SS will take away some of your benefits ($1 for every $2 over the limit). They “take away” by withholding future payments until the penalty is satisfied.

That said, if you claim your personal SS “soon” (e.g., at age 65), you will get about 87% of the amount you would get by waiting until your FRA to claim. You would, indeed, get a “spousal boost” when your husband claims, but you would not get 50% of his age 67 amount. That’s because of the way spouse benefits are calculated. When your husband claims, you will get a “spousal boost” added to your early benefit amount ($573?). The amount of that spousal boost will be computed as ½ of your husband’s FRA amount (e.g., $1663), minus your FRA entitlement (likely about $661) for a spousal boost of about $1002. But since you won’t have yet reached your FRA when your husband claims, the amount of the spousal boost will also be reduced (to about $926), which will be added to your age 65 amount of $573 for a total monthly spousal benefit of about $1499.

So, the answers to your two questions are:

1. Because you claimed your Social Security retirement benefit early and won’t yet be your full retirement age when your husband claims, you will not get half of your husband’s benefit when he claims. You would likely get about 45% of his benefit.

2. If you take your own SS retirement benefit now, you will get a higher benefit when your husband claims, but the amount you get will be less than half of his FRA entitlement.

The only way you can get the full 50% of your husband’s FRA benefit entitlement is to wait until your own full retirement age to claim Social Security.

This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (amacfoundation.org/programs/social-security-advisory) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org.