My husband is 63 years old and has Parkinson's disease. He is currently on social security disability 100% at $2558 per month, and this is his full benefit. He has been receiving this since January 2018. His Parkinson's was diagnosed in August of 2015 but his neurologist suspects he has had it approximately 2 years prior. I am 62 years old and have been working part time for the past 20 plus years at my sister's hair salon (I am a 30% owner of the hair salon) -my income is approximately $22,000 per year(give or take). Can I claim spousal support off of my husbands social security and if yes, what would I be able to receive? Will I be able to receive this until full retirement? Once I reach full retirement age, if my benefit is not as much as I receive off my husbands benefit, can I stay on his benefit?

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear about your husband's condition.

You couldn't file for spousal benefits without also filing for your own retirement benefits, and you would basically only qualify for the higher of those 2 rates. Furthermore, if you file prior to your full retirement age (FRA) your benefit rate will be reduced for age and your benefits would be subject to withholding based on Social Security's earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html). If you filed for benefits this year, Social Security would likely need to withhold $1 of your benefits for each $2 that you end up earning in excess of $17,040 in 2018. There is an alternate monthly test that could be used, though, if you retired or reduced your work and earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/rule.html).

Before deciding on when to file for your benefits, you should strongly consider using our maximization software to compare all of your options and determine the best filing strategy given your circumstances.

Best, Jerry