Question

Reduction in wife's spousal benefit.

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
July 15, 2021
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My wife started taking social security at age 62, because it was a small amount. I will claim at my full retirement age of 66 years and 4 months, in October 2022, at which time she will have been receiving her early retirement for a little over 6 years. I know that under normal circumstances, she's entitled to 50% of my full retirement benefit. I also know that it is reduced by a certain percentage for every year that she received her early benefit. Is there a way to know exactly what that percentage reduction will be, from the baseline of 50% of my benefit?

Neuskier

V

VincentL12345

Benefit Reduction for Early Retirement

Benefit Calculators

How we compute retirement benefits

Early or Delayed Retirement

Spousal benefits

We sometimes call a retired worker the primary beneficiary, because it is upon his/her primary insurance amount that all dependent and survivor benefits are based. If the primary begins to receive benefits at his/her normal (or full) retirement age, the primary will receive 100 percent of the primary insurance amount. If the spouse of a primary begins to receive benefits at his/her normal retirement age, the spouse will receive 50 percent of the primary's primary insurance amount.

The table below illustrates the effect of early retirement, for both a retired worker and his/her spouse. For our illustration, we have used a $1,000 primary insurance amount. With this primary insurance amount and both primary and spouse retiring at their respective normal retirement ages, the primary would receive $1,000 per month and his/her spouse would receive $500 per month. The table shows that retirement at age 62 results in substantial reductions in monthly benefits. Please note that relatively few people can begin receiving a benefit at exact age 62 because a person must be 62 throughout the first month of retirement. Thus most early retirees begin at age 62 and 1 month.

**Primary and spousal benefits at age 62**
(benefits based on a $1,000 primary insurance amount)
Year of birth^a	Normal (or full) retirement age	Number of reduction months^b	Primary		Spouse
Year of birth^a	Normal (or full) retirement age	Number of reduction months^b	Amount	Percent reduction^c	Amount	Percent reduction^d
1937 or earlier	65	36	$800	20.00%	$375	25.00%
1938	65 and 2 months	38	791	20.83%	370	25.83%
1939	65 and 4 months	40	783	21.67%	366	26.67%
1940	65 and 6 months	42	775	22.50%	362	27.50%
1941	65 and 8 months	44	766	23.33%	358	28.33%
1942	65 and 10 months	46	758	24.17%	354	29.17%
1943-1954	66	48	750	25.00%	350	30.00%
1955	66 and 2 months	50	741	25.83%	345	30.83%
1956	66 and 4 months	52	733	26.67%	341	31.67%
1957	66 and 6 months	54	725	27.50%	337	32.50%
1958	66 and 8 months	56	716	28.33%	333	33.33%
1959	66 and 10 months	58	708	29.17%	329	34.17%
1960 and later	67	60	700	30.00%	325	35.00%

^aIf you are born on January 1, use the prior year of birth.
^bApplies only if you are born on the 2nd of the month; otherwise the number of reduction months is one less than the number shown.
^cReduction applied to primary insurance amount ($1,000 in this example). The percentage reduction is 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% for each additional month.
^dReduction applied to $500, which is 50% of the primary insurance amount in this example. The percentage reduction is 25/36 of 1% per month for the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% for each additional month.

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