Can my wife switch to my Social Security benefits if she was born after 1954? I receive a lot more than she does.

See: My wife, 74, collects survivor benefits on her first husband. Can she now claim on her own Social Security record?

Dear Worried, 

I’ve got good news — that’s not true.

You’re actually confusing two types of benefits offered by the Social Security Administration: spousal benefits and survivor benefits.

Survivor benefits go to eligible family members after a beneficiary dies. Spouses, children and in some cases dependent parents can receive them. These benefits can be as much as 100% of what the person of record received at the time of death, though the exact amount depends on when the claimant files the application.

Spousal benefits, on the other hand, apply to current or, in some scenarios, divorced husbands and wives. They can be as much as 50% of the person of record’s primary insurance amount, which is the benefit a worker qualifies for at their full retirement age. The amount a spouse receives depends on when the claimant files for benefits. The worker whose record is being used must be alive. Current spouses can’t claim spousal benefits until the worker has begun receiving benefits (divorced spouses are an exception).

You may have heard about a now-outdated rule that allowed spouses to file for one benefit while delaying the other so the second benefit could continue to grow — for example, when someone qualified for both their own retirement benefits and spousal benefits. This strategy was often called a “restricted application.”

As you may know, beneficiaries receive 100% of their entitled benefit once they reach full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. People can claim retirement benefits as early as age 62, but claiming early permanently reduces the monthly payment because the Social Security Administration lowers benefits for every month claimed before full retirement age.

Do you have questions about retirement, Social Security, where to live or how to afford it at all? We want to hear from you. Join the conversation in our Facebook community: Retire Better with MarketWatch.

The Social Security Administration also encourages people to delay benefits beyond full retirement age, up to age 70, by offering delayed retirement credits. These credits increase the benefit by about 8% per year between full retirement age and age 70.

The Social Security Administration got rid of that previous rule — which allowed spouses to file for one benefit while delaying another so the second benefit could continue to grow — and replaced it with the “deemed filing” rule, which states that when a person files for a benefit, they are filing for any options available. This change was enacted by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. The rule is effective for anyone born in and after 1954, so yes, this affects your wife.

The deemed filing rule does not affect survivor benefits. This is an important distinction: Surviving spouses still have more flexibility than married spouses when deciding which benefit to take first.

For instance, say you’re alive, you’re claiming benefits and your wife wants to begin receiving payments, too. She would be eligible for her own benefit or a spousal benefit, and the Social Security Administration will give her the highest of the two options (it does not pay out two benefits to one person).

If she outlives you and she’s already receiving spousal benefits, the agency will automatically switch her to survivor benefits, but if she’s receiving benefits on her own record, she’d have to file a new application.

This means that, if she wanted to delay claiming survivor benefits until her own full retirement age so she gets 100% of what you were receiving, she could do so. Survivor benefits can generally begin as early as age 60 — or age 50 if a person is disabled — but claiming before the survivor reaches full retirement age permanently reduces the monthly amount.

By submitting your story to Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of MarketWatch, you understand and agree that we may use your story, or versions of it, in all media and platforms, including via third parties.

Readers: Do you have suggestions for this reader? Add them in the comments below.

Have a question about your own retirement savings? Email us at HelpMeRetire@marketwatch.com