Ask Larry

Is There Any Way For Me To Get A Larger Social Security Check?

my husband is 71 and collects 2,135 dollars a month.I am 72 years old and get 915 dollars a month.Is there any way I can get a larger social security check?

Hi. You don't mention if you're drawing your own Social Security retirement benefits, or spousal benefits, or a combination of the two. If you're drawing just your own retirement benefits, then you might be able to qualify for additional spousal benefits. However, you could only qualify for additional spousal benefits if your husband's primary insurance amount (PIA) is more than twice as much as your own 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 know how your and your husband's PIAs might compare because you don't state when you each started drawing your benefits. So, I have no way of knowing if you may be eligible for spousal benefits. You'll probably just need to check that out by contacting Social Security.

If you aren't eligible for spousal benefits then the only other way to potentially increase your benefit rate would be by working and paying Social Security taxes. Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings, so additional years of earnings can increase a person's benefit rate if they're higher than one or more of the 35 years currently being used to calculate the person's benefit rate.

Best, Jerry

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Posted: 
Feb 22 2021 - 11:26am
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