US Social Security Spousal Benefit Calculator

How this calculator works

The unreduced spousal-only amount can be half the worker’s primary insurance amount, before other applicable limits. Claiming before the spouse’s full retirement age reduces that amount by a monthly factor different from the worker’s own retirement reduction. This page fixes FRA at 67 for the reviewed cohort and uses age in whole years and months. It does not reconstruct earnings history, decide eligibility or combine an own retirement benefit with excess spousal entitlement.

Formula and rules

Base spousal amount = 50% of worker PIA. Reduction = first 36 early months × 25/36 of 1% + later early months × 5/12 of 1%. Spousal-only benefit = base × (1 − reduction).

Assumptions and limitations

Spouse born in 1960 or later, already eligible under SSA rules, no own retired-worker entitlement, no qualifying-child-in-care exception and no family-maximum reduction. No survivor/divorced-spouse eligibility, deemed-filing coordination, earnings-test withholding, Medicare, COLA or SSA rounding simulation. Delaying past FRA adds no spousal delayed credits here.

Worked example

With a worker PIA of $2,000 and a spouse claiming at 62 with FRA 67, 60 early months reduce the $1,000 spousal base by 35%. The illustration is $650/month, or 32.5% of worker PIA.

Spousal-only monthly benefit illustration

$650.00

Spousal-only amount at full retirement age

$1,000.00

Percentage of worker primary insurance amount

32.5%

Months before full retirement age

60 months

Official sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 2026-10-07. Rates are held in versioned rule modules. Versioned rules, official source review and year-specific calculation tests.

• SSA: benefits for spouses ↗

  50% PIA base and monthly early reduction for spousal-only entitlement; own benefits require coordination.

Common questions