I am born 1961 and my husband 1949. We took his SS at his 62 years and had a minor child at home. It was the recession and loss of work. No other choice, believe me. It saved us. My husband is 70 and still working. We don't know at what point he may not be working. I am not working but have been looking. We owe $120,00 on a modest (already downsized home. We only have 50,000 saved (CD's) and a small 401K (30,000) that could lose money. Old vehicles. No other debt. Two children are self-sufficient for now. We have 2 grandchildren. No inheritance or anything else forthcoming. We actually had a good year last year and ended up paying taxes (husband earns commission). Very difficult to plan with so many unknowns. I'm inclined to take early SS as I have never earned much anyway and don't think I will earn sufficiently and may need to be available to care for my husband. (I was job seeking in healthcare - had worked for a doctor's office prior - when the pandemic broke - I am not comfortable getting out there) Please advise and I will also use the benefits checker. Thank you

Hi,

I can't advise you when to file for benefits, but what I can tell you is that if you start drawing your Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 they'll be roughly 30% lower than what you'd get if you start at your full retirement age (FRA) of 67. If you qualify for spousal benefits and you start drawing them at age 62, they'll be reduced by roughly 35% from the amount you'd get if you wait until FRA. You can't get both your own benefits and full spousal benefits, though, just the higher of the two rates. And, if you start drawing before FRA you'll be stuck with the reduced rate for at least as long as both you and your husband are living.

If your husband dies before you then you could potentially qualify for widow's benefits as early as age 60, but your rate could be reduced for age depending on how old you are when you start drawing. If you're already drawing your own Social Security benefits or spousal benefits when your husband dies, you could be paid up to the higher of your husband's reduced rate or 82.5% of his primary insurance amount (PIA), assuming that's more than your own benefit rate. You couldn't get your own benefits plus a full widow's rate at the same time, though, just the higher of the two amounts.

You may want to use our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to compare your various options so that you can choose the filing strategy that you feel is best given your circumstances.

Best, Jerry