Ask Larry

When Should I Apply For Social Security?

I will be 66 in December. My husband and I have been happily married for 33 years and will always be together. We were frugal in life so I was able to retire at 53 and enjoy life and my grandchildren. I have a small pension 1200 a month and my husband's insurance covers the majority of my medical needs. My husband is 58 years old and earns 30,000 annually and we don't have any debt and haven't had for at least 10 years. My projected SS benefit at 66 is 1500 monthly or 2000 at 70. and my husbands is about the same. My husband also has 100,000 in a 501(3c) from his previous job and will get a few hundred a month from a pension from his current job. I am diabetic but otherwise pretty healthy. There is a lot of Alzheimers in my husband's family but always showing up in their 80's. We both have very long longevity in our families, most dying in their 90s. When should I apply for SS? For whatever it is worth, we have 6 children, none of which have much going on for their retirements, so we are planning to fund something for their old age with our SS. Thanks for any advice you could offer.

Carole,
It depends on your goals. If you want current income you could take your retirement benefit at your full retirement age in Dec 2016. If you want the maximum lifetime Social Security benefit, then you should delay your retirement benefit until age 70. Our software, MaximizeMySocialSecurity, will not only tell you what filing strategy maximizes your lifetime benefits, but it will also allow you to explore trade-offs with other filing strategies.
Best,
Mike

Posted: 
Jul 10 2016 - 12:00pm
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