My wife and I are both retired. My birthdate May 1954 and my wife August 1952. My wife has about 24 creditable years with SS and then 15 years with PERS. I have had bypass surgery and have a chronic form of cancer.
Can you kindly offer us any advice on when/how to take our Social Security. Your direction would be greatly appreciated.

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear about your health problems.

I would need more information about your potential benefit rates in order to give you any advice about filing. One thing that you may want to consider, though, is filing for Social Security disability benefits if your impairments prevent you from working. If you qualify for disability benefits, you will receive your full retirement age benefit rate early, so there is likely no downside to filing. You would still have the option of voluntarily suspending your benefits at age 66 in order to get a higher benefit rate at age 70. Also, that would allow your wife to apply for spousal benefits only at age 66, while allowing her own benefit rate to grow until age 70. She wouldn't be able to draw spousal benefits while your benefits are in suspense, though, so there are many options to consider.

You may wish to consider running the maximization software available on this website. That will prompt you to enter all of the information needed to furnish you with a full analysis of your filing options, and will help you determine the best filing strategy for you and your wife.

Best, Jerry