I turned 66 years old at the end of June 2017. (I was born in 1951) I was married for just short of 34 years. I have not remarried. My X has not remarried. My X just turned 62 ( she was born in 1955) also at the end of June 2017. We have been divorced for 6 years. I have not yet filed for any Social Security benefits. I do not know if my X has; we do not communicate. We were married from 1976 to 2011. I was the primary wage earner; my X worked for the first 10 years of our marriage. She left the work force to be a full time mom.

Hi Larry,

I am 64 years old. I was married for 13 years to a man who is about to turn 66. IF I choose to collect divorced spousal benefits in January 2018, will my benefits continue to grow? I understand that I would be leaving about 4% of the 50% of his benefit that I am eligible to receive. I am working and earn $25,000 per year and I understand the formula that would impact the benefit.

Hi,

Hello Larry:
I am married, turning 65 years-old this October, and have been receiving SSDI for approximately one year. My wife would like to retire next year and begin drawing her SSRB, while I would concurrently file a restricted application, applying for the spousal benefit in order to receive 50% of her FRA amount.
QUESTIONS: since my SSDI automatically converts to a SSRB when I turn 66, how am I able to file a restricted application? Would it be necessary for me to Suspend my SSRB at age 66?
Thank you very much for your help,
TM

Hi Larry.

I plan to claim a divorce benefit on my ex husband's Social Security Earnings when I am 66 years old, continue to work, and let my benefit grow until I reach age 70.
My marriage lasted 25 years, I have not remarried, and my birth year is 1953.

My ex husband did remarry but his spouse recently died unexpectedly. His birth year is also 1953. I believe he may be receiving a survivor benefit.

My husband is deceased when he passed I was told by my local social security office that his amount would always be more than mine
I plan on retiring at age 62
I am trying to decide whose benefit would be best to file for at that time to maximize my income
Should I file for my benefit first and then change to his at full retirement age of 66? Or the opposite or combination?

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

I will be turning FRA on 12/1/17. My husband turns FRA on 3/3/18. He plans to file 4 months prior, in NOV , for his benefit, so that his first payment would be received in April. I want to file a restricted application for a spousal benefit and then wait until 70 yrs of age to file on my own work record, so that my benefit can grow. At that point, my benefit would be approximately $ 300 more per month than 1/2 of his. Can I file on the same day my husband files, or is there any reason I should wait a period of time to file?

I have received disability benefits since 2010 when I was 53. My husband is 64 and considering when to retire. If he starts receiving social security, will my disability benefits be reduced? Or will we both receive our separate benefits?

Hi,

Your husband's entitlement to benefits will have no effect on your disability benefits, assuming that you receive Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits and not Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

My wife was 62 on 11/4/15. I was 66 on 6/5/1951 and suspended SS at age 66. Just bought your book "Get What's Yours". Does pg 93 , Case 1 apply to us? My wife's PIA might be larger than 1/2 of mine. Because she was 62 before Jan 2, 2016 can she still get 1/2 of my PIA at age 66 the same month I file for benefits? Even if her PIA is more than 1/2 of my PIA? Are we grandparented in??

Thanks

Hi,

I will be 62 soon and am considering getting re-married to my much younger girlfriend (32) who has a very young child (6). My question is, what would be the best strategy to maximize my SS payout based retiring at 62 and maxing out the family maximum? Oh, and if she wants another kid, what would be the consequences of that besides me losing my mind?

Hi,

I will be retiring next year at the age of 62 and want to file for my deceased husband's social security benefits. He passed away at a young age so I know that I have paid in more to SS than he did. My plan is to wait to file for my benefits until my full retirement age of 66 & 4months. Does this sound like a reasonable plan?

Hi,