I am currently 62 born in Dec 1953 my wife is 61 born March 1955. I have always worked most of our married life part time raising kids and taking care of our parents. If I were to collect today I would receive about $1000 a month. My wife will receive about $3000 at 66. Am I eligible today to file for 1/2 of her spousal benefit or do I need to wait until she retires and starts to collect. Also if I collect my $1000 today can I bump up to 1/2 when she files? Thank You

Hi,

Hello - my spouse recently passed away at age 65, I am also 65 and neither of us begain receiving beneifts. Am I able to claim his benefit now as a widow and defer my own payment until age 70 to receive the higher amount. Both of our estimated benifits are roughly the same amount, is there another strategy you might suggest to maximize my payout? Thank you for the information you provide, it is of tremendous help.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

I am currently 66 yrs old and just recently retired. My late husband received SS disability payments from 2004 untill his death in 2013. I continued to work but also applied for survivor benefits which I continue to receive. Would you recommend that I begin drawing on my own retirement benefit or continue to draw on the survivor benefit until age 70? I did call SS and if I switch I would collect about $240 more a month. Thank you!

Hi,

My husband and I are both 58, married over 35 years. He has earned the necessary credits for SS and medicare. Oct 2016 at his FRA he's projected to receive $2763/month. As of end of 2015, I have earned only 37 credits. I am working 8 hr/month and will probably only earn 1 credit for 2016, but will make over $1500. Does SS take into account the fractional amounts of income earned and add them to my record?
Is it worthwhile to continue to create my own record? Does this affect Medicare? My benefits would not compare to my husband's record. Thank you.

Hi! My wife is 66, I am 65. If my wife files for SS on her own work record, and I file a restricted application when I become 66, can she switch over to spousal benefits when I finally file for my benefits at age 70? This is so confusing, and I really want to get it right.
Thanks for any help!!

Hi,

My wife is 3 months older than I am. We are both 65 retired, and NOT collecting SS. At age 66 her benefit is approx $950. When I turn 66, my benefit will be approx. $2250. Is she able to wait until I turn 66, claim her spousal benefit of around $1200, and let her personal benefit grow until age 70 and then drop her spousal benefit and then collect her own benefit?

Hi,

Hi Larry,
I will be 66 in November 2016. I was married for 11 years, divorced and remained single. I have not filed for social security benefits.
Under the new rules of 2015, can I, at FRA of 66, file and suspend and at the same time file for benefits under my ex-spouse's earnings.
From reading your book, if I file and suspend till age 70 while getting ex-spouse benefits, I can still receive the yearly 8% increase from DCR. Is that still correct?
Thanks
Lee

Hi Lee,

I'm 64 & plan to retire at 67 in two years & start collecting SS plus a state pension. My wife will be only 50 and has a good job with a large company with a 401k, plus stock options and makes a higher salary. She was self-employed for years while I have paid into SS continually my whole career. Are there any special tactics when two spouses are of significant different ages in maximizing SS?

Hi,

My wife and i both turn 66 this month. My Social Security benefit is more than 2X my wife's ($2600 and $1000/month respectively)

Can my wife take her benefit ($1000) now and I claim a spousal benefit (of $500) now on her benefit,

then in the future (2 or 4 years ) switch and take my own benefit ($2600 plus 8% annual appreciation for delaying) and have my wife take her spousal benefit against my social security benefit ($1300)?

what i am wondering is can we both get spousal benefits - me on her benefit now, and her on my benefit in the future?

I will be 66 in June 2017 ---when should I apply for benefits? I work full time with a high income and prefer to continue working.
Thanks

Hi,

Deciding when to start drawing benefits is a personal choice, but there are numerous factors involved that can make certain filing strategies more advantageous than others. You may wish to run the maximization software available on this website. It will prompt you to enter all of the data needed to furnish you with a full analysis of your filing options.