Hi Larry, I am 60 and my husband is 65. His full retirement age is 66 and mine is 66 and 4 months. We are both retired educators each with a monthly pension and savings with very minimal debt (car loan). I have longevity in my family, my husband does not. Thanks to living below our means we do not need to rely on social security for retirement income. Right now my husband plans to start drawing social security at age 66. I do not want to ask SS anything! Should I claim at 62 and him wait until age 67 and claim spousal benefits until he reaches age 70. What is our best strategy? Thanks, Linda

Hi,

Due to the recent changes in SS law, your husband has the option of drawing just a spousal benefit without being deemed to file on his own account, but you don't. As you apparently know, you must be entitled in order for him to receive a spousal benefit, so the option of you filing at 62 and him filing for just a spousal benefit at that time is certainly a viable alternative.

Having your husband wait until age 70 to file on his own account, whether or not he gets any spousal benefits prior to then, will not only maximize his benefit amount, but will also maximize the amount you could potentially receive as a widow on his record. The downside of you filing at age 62, however, is that your benefit amount will be reduced by more than 26%, and you will be stuck with that reduction for at least as long as you and your husband are both living. You will also be deemed to apply for reduced spousal benefits when your husband switches to his own account, although that may be immaterial if your own full benefit amount (PIA) is more than one-half of his.

Another possible complication in your case are your pensions from teaching. If your salaries were always subject to Social Security taxes, that's not a problem. However, if your salaries were exempt from Social Security tax, the pensions you receive could reduce the amounts payable on your own records, and reduce or eliminate any spousal or survivor benefits that you may otherwise be eligible for on each other's records.

So, as is true with most people, the best Social Security option for you depends on multiple factors, such as your and your husband's benefit amounts, life expectancy, etc. You may wish to consider running the maximization software available on this website in order to sort out your options.

Best, Jerry