As I’ve pointed out over and over again in this column, there are thousands of myths about Social Security benefits. Those myths are usually started online, but then they get picked up by uninformed people and spread from one nattering novice to another. I couldn’t squeeze a thousand myths into a book, but I have written one called “Social Security: 100 Myths and 100 Facts.” I recommend that you get it at Amazon.com or other booksellers and read it.
But in today’s column, I’m just going to concentrate on myths about benefits for spouses. And by “spouses,” I almost always mean women—because 95 percent of all spousal benefits are paid to women. But if you happen to be in a marriage in which the wife is the primary breadwinner, meaning the husband might potentially be due spousal benefits on his wife’s Social Security account, then you should know that the same rules apply to a dependent husband.
