I am reading your book right now and taking notes and trying to determine the best way to get what's ours.

I am 62 as of last Friday and my husband is 68.5. He has a job thru his 69 th b day in Sept then he will be laid off when Educational tallship ( Matthew Turner) he is building is finished. He will apply for unemployment and we will most likely move from the Bay Area.

I do not see an easy way to file and suspend and have him collect on spousal benefits and with our age difference it would not work for me.

I have invested in mutual funds that have done well and I ave let it ride since 1999. They are worth about 25 K
Our only savings. I wil work til I drop because i love what I do. My income is about 25 k a yr but with new book and teaching opening up for me that i hope will flourish.

we would like to use money we have to find land and build a small home. 2 yurts and a lap pool or something along that line. (LOL) We can build for ourselves and have done so in the past.

Any thought of best strategies would be wonderful. thanks so much and Edward Jones has manages my ROTH.

Hi,

Please be sure that you are reading the revised version of the book (http://www.getwhatsyours.org/laurence-kotlikoff/), which was updated to incorporate the Social Security amendments passed by Congress in late 2015. Those amendments directly affect you and your options with regard to Social Security benefits.

You can't file and suspend prior to full retirement age, but you could potentially file for reduced benefits at age 62 in order to allow your husband to file for spousal benefits only on your record. He could then switch to his own record at age 70, assuming his own benefit rate is higher. However, if you earn more than $16,920 per year, both your own benefits and your husband's spousal benefits would be subject to partial or full withholding due to the Social Security earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html). So, this may not be your best strategy depending on your and your husband's relative benefit rates, and your expected earnings prior to full retirement age.

You should strongly consider subscribing to the maximization software available on this website. The software allows you to run various what-if scenarios so that you can determine the best filing strategy for both you and your husband.

Best, Jerry