You may not get a Social Security spousal benefit even if you’re eligible — and that’s not so bad

There is only one requirement you must meet to be eligible for Social Security spousal benefits: You must be married to a worker who is eligible for Social Security retirement benefits. Married spouses are eligible after one year of marriage. Ex-spouses can also qualify if they have been married to the worker for at least 10 years and have not remarried.

But being eligible and actually receiving Social Security spousal benefits are two different things. There is a case where you may not get the spousal benefit you qualify for, and it’s not as bad as you might think.

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Spousal benefits are not always the best option

You may qualify for spousal benefits only if you haven’t worked long enough to be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits. To get retirement benefits, you must earn at least 40 work credits, where one credit is defined as earnings of $1,730 in 2024, and you can earn a maximum of four credits per year. But many workers today are dually eligible for benefits — that is, they qualify for retirement benefits on their own and are married to a qualified worker.

The Social Security Administration offers these workers only the larger of the two benefits. If this is the spousal benefit, this is what that person gets. If their own pension benefit is higher, they will receive it instead of the spousal benefit.

Couples with similar earnings histories are more likely to get their own retirement benefits instead of spousal benefits because of how the spousal benefit calculation works. The maximum spousal benefit is half the pension benefit your partner qualifies for at full retirement age (FRA). This is between the ages of 66 and 67. If you want this amount, you must wait until your own FRA applies for spousal benefits.

Both pension and spousal benefits face early claim reductions if you apply before FRA, but reductions for spousal benefits are higher. Retirement benefits are reduced by 5/9 of 1% per month during the first 36 months of early claim, while spousal benefits are reduced by 25/36 of 1% per month. The Social Security Administration reduces both types of benefits by an additional 5/12 of 1% per month if you apply more than 36 months in advance.

Couples with one person earning significantly more than the other may find that the lower earning spouse’s benefit is greater than their pension benefit. But the lowest earner can’t claim spousal benefits until the highest earner has already applied for Social Security.

What does this mean for you?

Anticipating whether you will receive a spousal benefit or retirement benefit can help you get an idea of ​​how much of your retirement income Social Security will provide. Fortunately, you don’t have to do a lot of math to guess which of the two benefits might be greater.

The Social Security Administration has a tool that estimates your monthly pension at each claim age based on your earnings history to date and projections of your future income. All you have to do is create a social security account for me to verify it.

You can also use this account to estimate the spousal benefit. But to do this, you’ll need to know the monthly benefit your partner qualifies for at FRA. Once you have this, you can enter it into my social security account to see the estimated spousal benefits.

Once you have this information and you’ve decided when you want to claim Social Security, you can estimate how much of your monthly expenses your benefits will cover. This can help you figure out how much you need to save yourself to cover the rest.

This is a good starting point, but you may need to repeat this process over time. The future of Social Security is a bit uncertain right now. If the government makes changes to the program, it could affect how much you get and how much you have to save on your own for retirement.