Spousal Excess Question — off by $9???
I am 66 and my spouse is 62 and neither of us are collecting our benefits. My FRA is $3880 and my spouse’s FRA is $1949. I may not be accurate in my assumptions but I was hoping my spouse could take Social Security now at $1388 per month, and when I take Social Security at 67 (and collect $3880) my spouse would be eligible for the spousal excess or bump equivalent (a several hundred dollar a month increase). From my limited understanding of how this all works, Social Security compares our FRAs, and then calculates 50% of my FRA, and if it is 0 or less than my spouse’s FRA, my spouse would not be eligible. In our case, this calculation results in a negative $9 meaning the spousal excess will not trigger. Am I understanding this correctly and can anything be done (absent checking for errors on employment dates, etc) to move from - $9 dollars to greater than $0 so the spousal excess will kick in? Any other thoughts? Thanks in advance, I really appreciate it!