I am 62 divorced female still currently employed in a low level position. I am exploring the best time to retire with available assets. I would hope to work part time after retiring. My former husband's income was much higher than mine. However, he has been out of the work force 13 years and hasn't filed taxes since. How do I gather his information to determine which income would be best to retire on? Or is it fruitless since he has not filed?

Hi. If you've been divorced for at least 2 years and if your ex-husband is at least age 62, then you could potentially qualify for divorced spousal benefits even if your ex isn't yet drawing his benefits. Social Security should be able to tell you if you can qualify for divorced spousal benefits, and give you an estimate of what your benefit rate might amount to.

However, since you were born after January 1 1954, you can't apply for divorced spousal benefits without also filing for your own Social Security retirement benefits at the same time. That means that you could basically only be paid the higher of the 2 benefit rates, and your benefit rate will be reduced for age if you start drawing prior to your full retirement age (FRA). Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) can help you determine how much you could expect to receive based on your own earnings history, and it would allow you to analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits. But, you would need to get the information about your potential divorced spousal rate from Social Security.

Best, Jerry