I’ve been explaining Social Security rules to people for almost half a century now, and I’ve been writing this column for almost a quarter-century. I think I do a pretty good job of helping people understand Social Security rules and regulations, and I do it in simple and easy-to-understand language.
So I’m always surprised when I get questions from readers who have misinterpreted something fairly straightforward from a past column. For example, I can’t tell you how many times I have written that a woman will get a benefit as a spouse on her husband’s record only if it pays a higher rate than her own retirement benefit. And then I get dozens of emails from readers who say something like: “In your recent column, you said all wives should get spousal benefits on their husband’s record.” That’s just one example. Here are some more. (And you will notice that each of my answers is going to start off with the phrase: “You misunderstood what I wrote.”)
