Spousal Benefit Calculation

I took my US SS pension at age 62.  My wife has no credits of her own, but she will be entitled to a spousal benefit.  She'll be 62 later this year, so I think I'll be encouraging her to take it then.

I know that the FBU will work it all out when the time comes but is there any way for me to work out in advance what she's likely to get, based on my benefit?

Also, does anyone know whether you're obliged to take your benefit once you've been through the "interview" with the FBU?

Also, also, my understanding is that spousal benefit is never subject to WEP.  Is that correct?

I took my US SS pension at age 62.  My wife has no credits of her own, but she will be entitled to a spousal benefit.  She'll be 62 later this year, so I think I'll be encouraging her to take it then.

I know that the FBU will work it all out when the time comes but is there any way for me to work out in advance what she's likely to get, based on my benefit?

Also, does anyone know whether you're obliged to take your benefit once you've been through the "interview" with the FBU?

Also, also, my understanding is that spousal benefit is never subject to WEP.  Is that correct?

Plenty of calculators out there if you Google them.  I just tried the one below which allows for spousal benefits and for you to select retirement ages for each spouse, and you can put earnings of zero for the spouse

https://smartasset.com/retirement/social-security-calculator

The spouse's benefit is based on what the other spouse is receiving in SS and since that has already been subject to WEP then another WEP calculation is not done.

Plenty of calculators out there if you Google them.  I just tried the one below which allows for spousal benefits and for you to select retirement ages for each spouse, and you can put earnings of zero for the spouse

https://smartasset.com/retirement/social-security-calculator

The spouse's benefit is based on what the other spouse is receiving in SS and since that has already been subject to WEP then another WEP calculation is not done.

Thanks @durhamlad.  Must admit though, I couldn't make head nor tail of that calculator (and I've searched for others in the past).  Unless I'm missing something, this one seems to be forecasting based on your current income - and I don't have any.  It doesn't allow me to put in a retirement age of 62, even though I took my SS benefit at that age.

Incidentally, I'm not currently WEP'd - expecting that in about 6 months.

Update:  I guess I was hoping to find a calculator that would allow me to input what I currently receive in SS benefit, based on the fact that I'm 65 and that I started taking mine at age 62, and also my earnings history, if necessary.  And that calculator would tell me what my wife would receive in spousal benefit (having no earnings history of her own) based on when she wants to take it.

Thanks @durhamlad.  Must admit though, I couldn't make head nor tail of that calculator (and I've searched for others in the past).  Unless I'm missing something, this one seems to be forecasting based on your current income - and I don't have any.  It doesn't allow me to put in a retirement age of 62, even though I took my SS benefit at that age.

Incidentally, I'm not currently WEP'd - expecting that in about 6 months.

The most used calculator I see on the retirement forum I frequent is below and it does allow for you to be already receiving benefits but it does need to know your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount).

https://opensocialsecurity.com/

To find your PIA if you don't know it:

https://ssa.tools/

or
https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/anypia/anypia.html

If it is all too complicated then you'll just have to wing it (like I am doing) or contact the FBU. 

The most used calculator I see on the retirement forum I frequent is below and it does allow for you to be already receiving benefits but it does need to know your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount).

https://opensocialsecurity.com/

To find your PIA if you don't know it:

https://ssa.tools/

or
https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/anypia/anypia.html

If it is all too complicated then you'll just have to wing it (like I am doing) or contact the FBU. 

Thanks again.  I should know my PIA - it's probably in the paperwork I received when starting my pension.  I remember using the Anypia calculator years ago, but there isn't a Mac version for current OSes.  I ran the PC version under emulation back then.  I have a newer laptop now, so would have to set that up again if I wanted to run it again.  I shall try and dig out my PIA and look at the first link.  Ta.

Update:  That SSA Tools calculator is brilliant - except I can't get it to quite agree with what I started receiving in 2020!  Not sure what's going on there.

According this link there is a Mac OS version:

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/anypia/download.html

I used the windows version for my own calculations and found it very useful, especially in determining when to retire and how much WEP to expect.

Good luck....

According this link there is a Mac OS version:

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/anypia/download.html

I used the windows version for my own calculations and found it very useful, especially in determining when to retire and how much WEP to expect.

Good luck....

Unfortunately, as it says

"Note that this Mac version will not work on a Mac running Lion or newer versions of the OS X operating system".  Lion was released in 2011 - I would doubt anyone runs it anymore

Update:  I think I'm going to be slightly disappointed with the amount my wife will get as it turns out.  When I did my "interview" with the FBU, I vaguely remember them quoting me an estimate of what she might get - and I think it'll be a lot less.  My understanding now is that my wife will get 50% of my WEP'd PIA, reduced by an amount depending how early she takes it.  I could have sworn that I read somewhere, or heard somewhere, that spousal benefits are never subject to WEP.  But I'd failed to take into account that spousal benefits are indirectly affected because they are a fraction of the primary worker's WEP'd benefit.

Incidentally, can someone confirm, based on my ELY being 2019, that the maximum I can be WEP'd is $463 ?

My wife (who had no SS credits) receives 50% of my post WEP amount.

I'm not complaining however (as per my separate post on no underestimating the value of SS credits) - the US pension even for just 10 years of contributions is approximately equal to my UK State pension - based on 35 years of credits. 

My wife (who had no SS credits) receives 50% of my post WEP amount.

I'm not complaining however (as per my separate post on no underestimating the value of SS credits) - the US pension even for just 10 years of contributions is approximately equal to my UK State pension - based on 35 years of credits. 

Very similar situation here.  Mustn't grumble really, it was a surprise to me that my wife would get anything.  And, yes, the US state pension is quite generous.