I am now 66 and have been retired since age 63. I do not plan to file for my SS benefit until age 70 since my husband, who is 62, will continue to work full time until he is 66. Will my overall SS benefit (at claiming) be decreased due to to the years of no income from age 63-70?

Hi,

Your retirement benefit rate will be based on an average of your highest 35 years of work-indexed earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf). So, if you had continued working at a higher rate of earnings than in previous years, you could have continued to increase your benefit rate at least to some extent. The difference would probably not have been that dramatic, though, especially if you already have at least 35 years of Social Security covered earnings.

You may want to consider running the maximization software available on this website in order to make sure that you choose the best filing strategy.

Best, Jerry