Social security

:2025 Social Security Spousal Benefits: MADE EASY to Understand! | 

Hi everyone, and welcome to my channel. Today, we’re going to be talking about spousal benefits. This is a really important topic because a lot of people don’t understand how spousal benefits work, and they end up losing out on a lot of money. So I’m going to go over all the different types of spousal benefits, how to qualify for them, and how much you can get.

So, let’s start with the basics. What are spousal benefits? Spousal benefits are a type of Social Security benefit that you can receive if you’re married to someone who is eligible for Social Security. The amount of your benefit is based on your spouse’s earnings record.

There are two main types of spousal benefits:

Retirement spousal benefits: These are available to you if your spouse is at least 62 years old and is receiving retirement benefits. Your benefit will be based on your spouse’s full retirement age (FRA). If you start receiving benefits before your FRA, your benefit will be reduced.

Surviving spousal benefits: These are available to you if your spouse dies and you are either:

At least 60 years old

Disabled

Caring for a child who is under 16 or disabled

Here are some of the other things you need to know about spousal benefits:

You must be married to your spouse for at least 10 years in order to qualify for retirement spousal benefits.

You must be married to your spouse for at least 9 months in order to qualify for surviving spousal benefits.

There are some exceptions to the marriage requirement, such as if you were married to your spouse for a shorter period of time before they died in the line of duty.

You can start receiving spousal benefits as early as age 62. However, your benefit will be reduced if you start receiving them before your FRA.

You can receive up to 50% of your spouse’s full retirement benefit.

I hope this information has been helpful. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

Here are some additional resources that you may find helpful:

The Social Security Administration’s website: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/quickcalc/spouse.html

The AARP’s website: https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/questions-answers/spouse-social-security.html