My wife is 62 and has never worked very much and I am 57 years old and still plan to work till 62 should my wife start drawing social security now

Hi,

First of all, your wife would need to have paid into Social Security long enough to be insured for Social Security benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/insured.html) in order to be able to draw retirement benefits now. Assuming she did, if your wife elects to file for her Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 her benefit rate will be reduced by roughly 26%, and that reduced rate will continue for at least as long as both of you are living. That's true even if she later qualifies for additional spousal benefits on your record.

For example, say Barb is eligible for a full retirement age rate (PIA, or primary insurance amount) of $500, but she instead elects to start her benefits at age 62 and receives a reduced rate of $366. Barb's husband subsequently files for his benefits 5 years later, and his PIA is $2000. Barb would then become eligible for an additional unreduced spousal benefit that would be calculated by subtracting her PIA from 50% of her husband's PIA, which in this example would result in a spousal rate of $500 (i.e. $2000/2 - $500). That $500 excess spousal benefit would then be paid in addition to Barb's reduced retirement rate of $366 to give her a combined benefit rate of $866.

I don't have enough information about your and your wife's options to be able to advise you. You and your wife should strongly consider using our maximization software in order to compare all of your various filing options so that you can choose the best possible filing strategy for both of you.

Best, Jerry