For many older persons, Social Security benefits provide a sizable source of income. Based on data from the Social Security Administration, 37% of men and 42% of women 65 years of age and older depend on their checks for at least half of their income. Your past salary, the duration of your work, and the age at which you start claiming are some of the variables that will determine the amount of your payouts. However, the amount of your benefit will also depend on your marital status. You may be eligible for a different kind of Social Security based on your marital status. It pays to find out if you qualify for this kind of benefit, as the average retired person qualified for it will receive approximately $912 per month as of January 2024.
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Social Security Benefits; Source- CNN
Social Security Benefits For Retired Couple
A unique kind of Social Security benefits available to retired couples or single people is called spouse benefits. There are a few conditions you must fulfill in order to be eligible for spousal benefits as a married retiree. You have to be married right now. The Social Security retirement or disability benefits must be available to your spouse. Unless you are a caregiver for a kid who is under 16 or disabled, in which case this regulation may not always apply, you must be at least 62 years old.
Eligibility For Additional Social Security Benefits
You may still be eligible for additional Social Security benefits through divorce if you are divorced. However, the prerequisites for this kind of benefit are a little different. You are not allowed to be married at this time, but it’s acceptable if your ex-spouse has remarried. It is required that your prior marriage have lasted a minimum of ten years. You cannot file for divorce benefits if you were divorced for less than two years and your ex-spouse has not started receiving Social Security.
The amount your spouse or ex-spouse receives from Social Security will not be impacted by your benefit, either for spousal or divorce payments. Furthermore, receiving divorce benefits won’t keep your ex-spouse from being eligible to get spousal benefits if they have remarried. The maximum payout for either kind of benefit is 50% of what your spouse or ex-spouse would be eligible to receive at full retirement age (FRA). Should you also be eligible for retirement benefits due to your individual work history, the Social Security Administration will only provide payments equal to the higher of the two amounts, not both.
Let’s take an example where you are eligible for $1,000 monthly retirement benefits at your FRA and your spouse is eligible for $3,000 monthly benefits at his or her FRA. Your spouse’s benefit in this scenario would be $1,500 per month. That’s how much you’ll get each month, not $2,500, because it’s more than your retirement benefit. You must wait until your FRA file in order to obtain the entire amount of spousal or divorce benefits to which you are entitled. If you start claiming before the age of 66 or 67, your FRA will fall between the two ranges, and your monthly payments will be lower.
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