Is there a limit on Social Security benefits for married couples?

Not when it comes to each spouse’s own benefit. Both can receive retirement payments based on their respective earnings records and the age at which they claimed benefits. One payment does not offset or affect the other.  

However, there is a maximum family benefit — a cap on the total amount a family can collect from Social Security on an individual worker’s earnings record (including spousal, children’s and survivor benefits). The maximum amount is between 150 and 188 percent of the worker’s primary insurance amount (the monthly payment they qualify for at full retirement age).

There is also a maximum individual retirement benefit, a limit on the amount an individual can collect per month from Social Security. To draw the highest possible benefit, you must have earned at least the maximum taxable earnings (the amount of income subject to Social Security taxes) for 35 of your working years.

For an eligible beneficiary who claims Social Security upon reaching full retirement age in 2026, the highest possible monthly payment is $4,152. For one who does so at age 70, it’s $5,181. If they qualify based on their own work histories, a married couple can each receive the maximum individual retirement benefit.

The maximum individual benefit can change each year as Social Security recalculates the maximum taxable earnings (based on national wage trends) and applies a cost-of-living adjustment.

Keep in mind

Full retirement age is 66 and 10 months for people born in 1959 and 67 for those born in 1960 and later. People born from March 2, 1959, through Jan. 1, 1960, will reach it in 2026.