My second husband and I were together for nine years before i left in 2004. We were married in 1995. I filed for divorce in 2004 and the final decree was made in 2006. I have several health issues, am 58, would it be wise to file at 62 under his? He made more that I during his career and is ten years older than I.

Hi,

Whenever you file for divorced spouse's benefits, you'll also be deemed to be applying for benefits on your own record. You'll receive essentially the higher of the two benefits. If you wait until full retirement age to start, you'll receive the higher of a) your full benefit, or b) one-half of your ex-husband's full retirement age benefit. If you take benefits at age 62 instead, your benefit amount will be reduced by around 30% of the age 66 rate. The reduction percentage could be a bit more or a bit less depending on your year of birth, and how much of your total benefit is paid from each record.

You may wish to consider running the maximization software available on this website in order to get a better idea of your best option.

Best, Jerry