Hi Larry, My husband is 10 years older than me (66) and I'm (55). We were both born after January 1954. I am planning to work for the next 10 years, til I am 65. I love my job. My PIA is larger than my husband by a good amount, and will grow due to replacing low earning years with higher earning years (35 highest). I run the social security calculator online and it wants my husband to delay til 70 and me draw as early as 62 to maximize our benefits. But , if I draw that early, my salary will erode my benefits by 50%. So I'm not sure drawing early make sense for me. I've been told that survivor benefits is important for me because I'm 10 years younger. But survivor benefits will also be reduced due to my salary until my FRA, and once I reach FRA I don't get double social security benefits, only get the higher benefit of the two (my PIA). So essentially, my husband delaying his SS til 70, only benefits me if he unexpectedly passes away and only between my age of 65-67, since I will stop working at 65. Does this all make any sense to you? I find the calculators leave out a lot of variables. Would love your input.

Hi,

Based on your description of your circumstances, I would agree that you should be very skeptical of any calculator that advises you to file at age 62. If your husband dies before you, you would be eligible for a maximum of either his full benefit rate or your own full rate. When I say 'full benefit rate', I mean the amount that you'd be eligible to draw given your age at the time you started drawing.

Therefore, if your own primary insurance amount (PIA) will be significantly more than your husband's PIA, you may never qualify for survivor benefits. And, the sooner that you start drawing your benefits prior to age 70, the lower your own benefit rate would be. If you start drawing your benefits at age 62 at a rate of 70% of your PIA and if your husband starts drawing his benefits at age 70 at 132% of his PIA, if his rate is higher than your reduced rate you could potentially get his higher rate as a survivor. But, if you instead wait until age 70 to start drawing your own benefits and if your PIA is significantly more than your husband's PIA, that may be your best long term plan.

Rather than you and I speculating on this topic, though, I think you and your husband should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to do your Social Security planning. The software can handle all of the computations required to help you determine your optimal strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry