My boyfriend of 16 years has multiple myeloma he is 63 and is applying for ssa disability. We plan on marrying, I am 56 and already retired. He also will receive a pension from his company. He has an ex wife that he was married to for 30 years. She is retired already and will be 61 this year. I plan on applying for my early SSA benefits at 62. I took the supplemental option from my employer to receive more in my pension and then have it reduced after I apply for SSA at 62. Will SSA automatically calculate my benefits using his disability amounts or do I need to ask them to calculate my benefits based on his disability. His ex wife does not plan on applying for his benefits. Thank you.

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear about your boyfriend's health problems.

When you apply for your Social Security retirement benefits, you'll be deemed to have also applied for spousal benefits if you are eligible. A separate application would be needed to establish your entitlement to spousal benefits, though. By the way, your potential spousal benefits would not be affected if your boyfriend's ex-wife files for divorced spousal benefits on his record.

Before applying for benefits, you may want to consider running the maximization software available on this website in order to make sure that you choose the best filing strategy.

Best, Jerry