My husband worked at General Motors and took an early retirement and is now 59 years old. I am 63 years old. I am very confused about Social Security and what we should do. I am still working part-time and he is working as well, Self-employed as a LLC.

Hi,

As you probably know, there are many potential strategies available, and the best choices involve numerous variables. One significant difference between you and your husband is that you retain the option of filing just for a spousal benefit at full retirement age (FRA), which is age 66 for you. You could then wait until age 70 to apply on your own account, at which point it would be 32% higher than if you applied for it at FRA. Your husband won't have that option due to the new law that was passed in 2015, which changed the deeming rules for people born after 1953.

However, in order for you to get a spousal benefit, your husband would have to be receiving his benefit. If he's not earning much when he reaches age 62, he could file for a reduced benefit so that you could also receive an unreduced spousal benefit, and then he could suspend his benefit at FRA & resume it at age 70. This is just one of numerous possible strategies, however, and it may well not be the best one for you and your husband.

If you haven't already done so, you may well benefit from running the maximization software available on this website. It should help you and your husband sort out all of your options so that you can make the best possible choices.

Best, Jerry