I made a bigger mistake than I ever knew. I am divorced. My former husband is 16 years younger than me. We were married for a 14 year period. I always work but he made a great deal of more money than myself I am wanting to take a retirement at the age of 62 due to poor health. I have never remarried, is there anyway I can collect any benefits of his such as Social Security before he is of retirement age. Thank you for any help you can give me , I sincerely appreciate your time.

Hi,

No, you can't, unless he receives early Social Security disability benefits. To be eligible for divorced spousal benefits, you must be at least age 62, unmarried, and your marriage must have lasted for at least 10 years. In addition, your ex must either 1) be entitled to retirement or disability insurance benefits, or 2) he must be at least age 62 and your divorce must have been final for at least 2 years. Furthermore, if you are also entitled to benefits based on your own work record, your full retirement age benefit amount (PIA) must be less than one-half of your ex's PIA in order for you to receive additional benefits from your ex's account.

If you must stop working due to health problems, you should consider filing for Social Security disability benefits. If you qualify, you could receive an unreduced benefit instead of the permanently reduced benefit you'd receive by starting retirement benefits prior to full retirement age. Here is a link to information about Social Security's disability program: https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityssi/.

Best, Jerry