When one of you dies, the survivor is entitled to the larger of the two individual benefits. If you are over 25 years of age, you are supposed to receive a statement from the Social Security Administration showing what earnings have ever been credited to you. The statement should be mailed to you about three months before your birthday each year. You can request one at any time. The Social Security system pays vastly different rates of return to different populations.
Some people do better than others.
For the most part, people born before World War II are getting a decent return on their Social Security tax dollars. The Social Security benefit structure is tilted in favor of lower incomes. Thus, other things equal, people who earn higher incomes tend to get a lower return than those with lower incomes. Someone who drops out of high school and begins working, for example, may pay taxes from age 16 to age 67. A medical doctor, by contrast, may not start paying taxes until he or she is in the late 20s.