I am a 67 year old divorcee and was married to my ex-husband for 35 years (neither one of us has remarried). My social security that I could collect is very minimal compared to my ex- husband's. I am still working and would like to start collecting my SS but want to know if I start collecting on my Social Security, can I change to collecting my ex-husbands (50%) when he starts collecting his SS or will I have to stay with mine? My ex probably won't start collecting his SS until he turns 70 in 2 years. Thank you.

Hi,

You could start out drawing your own benefits now and file for divorced spousal benefits later, but that may not be your best option. If you've been divorced for at least 2 years, you can potentially start collecting divorced spousal benefits now, even if your ex-husband hasn't started drawing his benefits. And, assuming that you were born prior to January 2 1954, you could then opt to file now for just for divorced spousal benefits only, and wait until age 70 to start collecting your own benefits. However, you wouldn't really gain anything by waiting until age 70 to start collecting your own benefits unless your own Social Security retirement benefit rate would be higher at age 70 than would your divorced spousal rate.

If you haven't been divorced for at least 2 years, though, then the earliest that you could qualify for divorced spousal benefits is the earlier of a) the second anniversary of your divorce, or b) when your ex starts drawing his benefits. In that even you could start drawing your own benefits now and then file for divorced spousal benefits later. You wouldn't actually switch from drawing your own benefits to drawing just divorced spousal benefits if you did that, though. Instead, you'd continue to draw your own benefits plus the difference between your benefit rate and 50% of your ex's primary insurance amount (PIA), assuming that 50% of his PIA is higher than your own rate. Bottom line, once you're eligible for divorced spousal benefits, you can be paid the higher of a) your own benefit rate or b) 50% of your ex's PIA.

It sounds like you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry