when i turn 62 in december can i draw my social securty ? i have not worked much do i draw half of my husbands?

Hi. You can claim benefits as early as the first month that you will be at least age 62 for a full month, so unless you were born on December 1st or 2nd, the earliest month that you could potentially qualify for Social Security retirement benefits is January. You'll only qualify for benefits on your own account, though, if you have at least 40 (QC) quarters of Social Security coverage (https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/QC.html).

If you don't have at least 40 QCs, or if your own primary insurance amount (PIA) is less than 50% of your spouse's PIA and if your spouse is drawing his Social Security retirement or disability benefits, then you could potentially qualify for spousal benefits as early as the first month that you will be at least age 62 for a full month (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.03/handbook-0305.html). A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

As long as your husband is still living, the most that you could be paid per month is the higher of a) your own benefit rate, or b) 50% of your spouse's PIA. But, you'd have to wait until your FRA of age 67 to be eligible for a full 50% of your spouse's PIA. If you claim benefits at age 62 instead, your own benefit rate and/or your spousal rate will be roughly 30% to 35% lower than if you had waited until FRA to start drawing.

You may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry