My husband turned 62 in October 2020. I turned 62 end of February, 2021. We are thinking about retiring he has 28 years in and I have 22 . How do we get the maximum amount if we decide to file for social security within this year?? We both are state employees and do have a pension as well.

Hi. You and your husband can only be paid the benefit rates that you're eligible for based on your earnings histories. Neither of you could apply for spousal benefits without being required to file for your own benefits at the same time. The only way that either of you could be eligible for spousal benefits is if one of you has a primary insurance amount (PIA) that's more than twice as much as the other spouse's PIA. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

The only control that you really have with regard to your benefit rate is with the amount you earn and when you start drawing your benefits. Your and your husband's Social Security retirement benefit rates will be based on an average of your highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings, so if you stop working your PIA would not increase except for cost of living increases. And, the sooner you start collecting your benefits prior to age 70, the lower your monthly benefit rate will be. For example, a person with a PIA of $2000 who starts drawing their benefits this year at age 62 1/2 would receive a monthly rate of $1466, whereas if the same person waited until age 70 to start drawing benefits their monthly rate would be $2506.

You and your husband may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze your options in order to help you determine your best strategy for maximizing your lifetime benefits.

Best, Jerry