Social Security Spousal Benefit Calculator
Rules from 20 CFR 404 · reviewed September 6, 2026
Shows how much Social Security a spouse can collect on the other spouse's work record, at each claiming age. AboutLess
In plain words. If you are married, you can collect a benefit based on your spouse's work record instead of, or on top of, your own: up to half of what your spouse would get at full retirement age. Claim it before your own full retirement age and it is reduced; waiting past full retirement age adds nothing. If you have your own work record, Social Security pays your own benefit plus whatever the spousal amount exceeds it by. This tool takes both full benefits and shows what you would receive at each age from 62 to 70.
Why it matters. A spouse who stayed home or earned much less often has a larger benefit available than their own record shows, and the timing rule is the opposite of the usual advice: there is no reward for waiting past full retirement age.
An example. Your spouse's full benefit is $3,000 and your own is $1,000. At your full retirement age you would receive $1,500 in all: your $1,000 plus a $500 spousal top-up. At 62 the two parts are reduced separately, to about $1,025.
Where it stops. Your spouse must already have filed for their own benefit, and claiming either benefit now means claiming both. It does not cover survivor benefits, which have their own tool, or the rules for a divorced spouse beyond noting them. Everything it leaves out.
The figure for full retirement age on your spouse's Social Security statement. Use the higher earner here.
The figure for full retirement age on your own statement. Enter 0 if you have no work record.
Your full retirement age is 67.
Filing for either benefit files for both at the same time.
- Largest possible spousal benefit
- $1,500
- Half your spouse's benefit at full retirement age
- Monthly benefit at your full retirement age
- $1,500
- At 67, with no reduction and no credits on the spousal part
- Monthly benefit if you claim at 62
- $1,025
- Both parts are reduced, each on its own schedule
The spousal part is reduced for early claiming on its own schedule. It loses 25/36 of a percent for each month in the first three years before full retirement age and 5/12 of a percent for each month beyond that, which is steeper than the schedule for your own record. It also never grows past full retirement age. So if most of your benefit is spousal there is no reason to wait beyond that age, while if your own record is larger there may be.
This follows the Social Security spousal benefit rules. The spousal benefit starts at half your spouse's full benefit, the spousal part is reduced on its own early-claiming schedule, and your own benefit is reduced or credited on the usual schedule. It uses today's dollars, whole-year claiming ages, and a spouse who has already filed. It leaves out deemed filing, the family maximum, the earnings test, the rules for divorced spouses, and the government pension offset for public employees. Educational, not advice.
This is a simplified model, not your actual tax return or plan. It only knows what you type in, leaves out rules that may apply to you, and cannot weigh the other facts and trade-offs a real decision depends on. Before you act, talk with a professional who knows your whole situation.
Educational only, not investment, tax, or legal advice. Results are hypothetical estimates that vary with each use and over time and are not guaranteed accurate or complete. Using this tool creates no client relationship with Considerate Capital, and the site that linked here is not affiliated with it. By using it you agree to the tool terms.