Hi Larry,, Both my husband and myself just turned 62 this year and we both applied for ssi, haven't received our first check yet. Since this is all new to me, I started reading about spousal benefits. My husband's ssi is much higher than mine as my work record was off and on due to children. I filed all the necessary paperwork but was denied spousal benefits because "You have monthly income of about $3,000" and it is too high for any ssi pmt in my state (PA). Is this because of my husband's pension ($3,400) after taxes?

Hi,

SSI is the accepted abbreviation for Supplemental Security Income, which is a needs based benefit administered by Social Security. SSI is not funded by Social Security taxes, and eligibility for SSI has nothing to do with a person's work history or the amount of Social Security taxes they've paid. There is both a resource and income limit for SSI eligibility, and if a married couple has more than $3000 in countable resources then they can't qualify for SSI. Furthermore, in order to potentially qualify for SSI benefits a person must either be disabled, blind, or at least age 65.

I assume that what you and your husband actually applied for is Social Security retirement benefits. You could only be eligible for Social Security spousal benefits if your primary insurance amount (PIA) is less than half of the amount of your spouse's PIA. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA). I don't have enough information to know what benefits you may qualify for, but you and your husband may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry