My husband is 72 he just started collecting his ss benefit he collects 3200 month before Medicare I started collecting my benefits last November when I turned 62 due to health reasons my benefit is 1309 month do I get half his as spousal benefits or is this it

Hi,

No, you won't get half of your husband's benefit amount. Unreduced spousal benefits are calculated at 50% of the worker's primary insurance amount (PIA), not 50% of their age 70 rate. A person's PIA is equal to the amount of their Social Security retirement benefit if they start drawing at full retirement age (FRA). Furthermore, if the person filing for spousal benefits is drawing their own benefits, their own PIA is subtracted from 50% of their spouse's PIA to determine if they qualify for spousal benefits.

In other words, you could only collect spousal benefits if 50% of your husband's PIA is more than your PIA. If your benefit rate is $1309 and you started drawing at age 62, your PIA must be around $1800. And, if your husband started drawing at age 70 or later and his benefit rate is $3200, then his PIA is must be around $2425. Therefore, it sounds like your PIA is much more than 50% of your husband's PIA, in which case you couldn't qualify for any spousal benefits.

Best, Jerry