What is the downside to my spouse claiming work history benefits upon turning 62 then upgrading to spousal benefits when I turn 67? Is there a general rule of thumb as to whether or not it is worthwhile to have her start claiming benefits at 62?

Married twice. Divorced twice. 1st marriage 17 yrs 2nd 3 yrs. Can I collect SS from the first spouse? I just turned 65 and am in financial crisis and contemplating collecting mine or his (whichever is higher) now instead of waiting another 1yr and 8 months for full benefits. If I wait my own would be slightly higher at 66 & 8 months. Thank you.

We are both mid 60's in good health about to retire. We have 1.2 m in savings, no debt and are evaluating the costs from savings for different SS claiming times. Is there an average acceptable cost from savings to defer SS till we are both 70? What is an acceptable percentage of our portfolio to spend over the next 5 years deferring SS till 70?

My husband died in 2018. My 20 year old developmentally disabled son is receiving social security survivor benefits through my husband (as well as some ssi). Do you recommend I wait to apply for survivor benefits for myself until I retire? I make too much money to receive any money if I apply before I retire, but is there any advantage for me to apply at 60? Will my son’s social security survivor benefit be reduced when I start receiving survivor benefits? Will my benefit be the same as my son’s? I am 59, planning to retire in the next 2-3 years.

I filed for and received survivor benefits at age 60, I'm currently 61. I Went back to work and suspended the payments due to earnings. Do these benefits continue to accrue? How do they accrue? I'm planning to retire at 70 to maximize my own benefits but would like to know my best strategy (maximum $) for claiming both my survivor benefits and personal benefits. Thanks for your help.

Hi Larry, I am 66 and currently drawing my social security. My wife is 62 and self employed cleaning an office, however with back issues involving shots and surgery she still cannot perform her work, She is considering claiming disability and my question is will her benefit convert to 50% of mine when she reaches 67?
Thank you,
Bill

Hi Larry

I was a full-time mom while my ex-husband who is now deceased earned a good salary. He died at age 70 and I don’t know whether he ever collected benefits. We were married for 16 years and I believe I would be entitled to spousal benefits. I have just turned 65 years old and have not started taking benefits yet. my own lifetime earnings are quite low. What are your suggestions as to how and when to claim spousal benefits? Thank you!

My wife and I are 63. Both retired with no plans ever to work for money again. Her full retirement age ss benefit will be less than 50% of my FRA benefit. We can afford to defer collecting and thus have deferred. Q. Could she collect now without losing the ability to collect 50% of mine later. We are both healthy and plan to live into our 90’s. Yuk, yuk so I was gonna defer as long as it makes sense. Obviously not past 70.

I have 24 years with our local school district. I am 60 years old and hope to retire sometime between the age of 63 and 65, My husband is 70 yrs old and is receiving 2834 in Soc sec. I worked for approximately 10 years in the business sector before working with the school district, near as I can figure I "might" get $100 a month because of the WEP. Also I understand that if my husband passes away I cannot collect any widow's benefits. My boss was telling me that at 62 I should go file for my social security so that I could at least start getting that.

Is there a good reference for learning the nuances to filing and learning the strategies for filing for social security for a married couple? I’m retired and have continued working as a contractor (I’m currently a few months beyond my FRA) and my wife works full time (she just turned 61) and plans to continue working FT for another 2 - 3 years.