I am 61 turning 62 in January. My husband is 66 at his full retirement age but is not presently taking social security benefits. He may wait until he is 70. If I take benefits at 62 at a reduced amount can I then once he retires take a spousal benefit as his benefit is higher or will my benefit be permanently reduced since I took it early? If I take my early benefit at 62 can he apply for spousal on my earnings and then apply for his benefit at 70? Is a spousal benefit determined by benefit amount at full retirement age (in his case 66) or the benefit amount at 70? Can I apply for a spousal benefit on his earnings if he has not applied yet? Do I have to be at my full retirement age of 66 and 4 months to get spousal benefits?
Thank you for your time.

Hi,

If you file for reduced retirement benefits at age 62, you would be deemed to also be filing for spousal whenever your husband subsequently files for his retirement benefits. Assuming that the spousal rate is higher, what you would eventually receive in that event would be your own reduced retirement rate plus an additional spousal benefit that may or may not also be reduced depending on your age at the time your husband starts drawing his benefits.

If you do file at age 62, your husband could then file just for spousal benefits on your record and allow his own benefit rate to grow until age 70.

Your subsequent spousal rate (if any) would be calculated based on 50% of your husband's full retirement age rate (PIA) less your own PIA, and a reduction for age would apply if you are below full retirement age when you become eligible for the excess spousal benefit. And, you can't get spousal benefits before your husband files for benefits on his own record.

You and your husband should strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website in order to explore your options and determine your best overall filing strategy.

Best, Jerry