More than 52 million Americans got a Social Security retirement benefit in October. The vast majority of those beneficiaries were retired workers, but nearly 2 million were the spouses of retired workers. Readers surprised by that information are not alone.

A recent survey from MassMutual found that 28% of adults nearing retirement were unaware that spouses could claim Social Security benefits on the work record of their retired partners. Knowledge gaps like that lead to poor financial planning and lost income in retirement.

Read on to see the average Social Security benefit for retired workers and spouses, and to learn how beneficiaries can score bigger payouts.

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Source Fool.com