64 yaşındayım ve Eski Sevgilim 3.800 $ Toplarken Sosyal Güvenlikle Ayda 1.650 $ Yaşıyorum — ‘Daha Fazla Çalışmalıydın’ Diyor Ama Ben Çocuklarımızı Yetiştiriyordum

I’m 64 and Living on $1,650 a Month on Social Security While My Ex Collects $3,800 — He Says, ‘You Should’ve Worked More’ But I Was Raising Our Kids

Jeannine Mancini

Thu, August 20, 2026 at 2:00 AM GMT+3 6 min read

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For some divorced couples, the financial split doesn't really show up until retirement. One person gets a comfortable monthly check. The other gets a number that barely covers the basics.

A 64-year-old woman says she's living on about $1,650 a month in Social Security after spending much of her working life raising the couple's children. Her ex-husband collects about $3,800 a month. When she questioned the difference, he told her, "You should've worked more."

She sees it differently. While he built his career, she worked part time when she could and handled much of the childcare and household responsibilities. Now the children are grown, the marriage is over and the financial consequences of those choices are showing up every month.

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The Years at Home Didn't Come With a Pay Stub

The woman doesn't dispute that her ex earned more. She also knows that her own work history is the reason her Social Security check is smaller.

But raising children meant she wasn't able to build the same career or accumulate the same retirement savings. The work was necessary for the family, even if it didn't come with a paycheck or a 401(k) match.

At 64, going back and rebuilding decades of earnings isn't exactly an option.

There may, however, be another Social Security benefit worth investigating.

Her Ex's Earnings Record Could Matter

If the couple were married for at least 10 years, she is currently unmarried and the divorce has been final for at least two years, she may qualify for a divorced-spouse benefit based on her ex-husband's Social Security earnings record.

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The age requirement is generally 62 or older, so at 64 she has passed that threshold. The benefit can be worth up to half of the ex-spouse's full-retirement-age benefit, although claiming before her own full retirement age can reduce the amount. Her own Social Security benefit also matters in determining what she could receive.

She would need to apply for the divorced-spouse benefit. The Social Security Administration allows eligible people to apply online in certain circumstances or by calling Social Security or visiting an office. A final divorce decree and other documents may be required.

There is another important detail. Her ex does not necessarily have to be collecting Social Security for her to qualify if he is at least 62, fully insured and they've been divorced for at least two years.

So before accepting $1,650 as the final number, checking with Social Security could be worthwhile.

There Are Some Things Retirement Can't Undo

The woman can't go back and turn years spent raising children into a larger work history. She can't recreate the retirement savings she might have accumulated had she worked full time.

She can, however, make the money she has work as efficiently as possible.

That could mean reviewing housing costs, looking for programs that reduce food or health-care expenses, working part time if she's able and making sure she isn't leaving an available Social Security benefit on the table.

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For someone with even a modest amount of savings, diversification can also matter. Real estate doesn't have to mean buying an entire rental house.

Arrived lets investors purchase fractional shares of rental properties starting at $100, giving people a way to gain exposure to residential real estate without buying a whole property or dealing with tenants and maintenance themselves. Investors can potentially receive rental income and benefit from appreciation.

It's not a replacement for Social Security, and it isn't a substitute for an emergency fund. But for someone trying to build additional sources of income later in life, smaller investments can be one piece of a broader financial plan.

The past can't be rewritten. Those years raising children are already spent, and so are the years of earnings that might have come with a full-time career.

What can change is what happens next.

The most important step may be finding out whether she's already entitled to more from the work record her marriage helped make possible. If the answer is yes, she shouldn't have to ask her ex for permission to claim it.

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This article I'm 64 and Living on $1,650 a Month on Social Security While My Ex Collects $3,800 — He Says, 'You Should've Worked More' But I Was Raising Our Kids originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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