Hi, Mr.Kotlikoff, l have 67 and my ex husband is from July 1952, around 70, he makes more money than me, should I star to apply to social security for my retirement or from my ex husband as divorced, l was married for 10 years. Thanks for your advice.

Hi. Assuming that you were born after January 1 1954 and if your ex-spouse is still living, whenever you apply for either your own Social Security retirement benefits or for divorced spousal benefits you'll be deemed to be applying for both benefits at the same time (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/claiming.html). The only way you could then qualify for benefits from your ex's record while he's living if his primary insurance amount (PIA) is more than twice as much as your 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).

Your best filing strategy depends on numerous different factors, so you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry