Dear Larry,

My husband will be 66 this October and I will be 62 this August. Our benefit amounts are $1713 (at 66) and $2262 (at 70) for my husband. My benefit amounts are $1483 (at 62) , $2046 ( at 66), and $2744 ( at 70). We are both currently unemployed. What is our best option to maximize our social security?

Thank you for your time.

Lisa

Hi Lisa,

I don't believe that there is a single best option in your case. One option would be for you to file for your benefits in October so that your husband could receive 4 years of spousal benefits before switching to his own record at age 70. You could then suspend your benefits from full retirement age to age 70 and receive delayed retirement credits. You would still be stuck with a reduction for taking your benefits from age 62 to 66, though. Or, you could both just wait until age 70 in order to assure yourselves of receiving the maximum monthly rate for as long as you live. And that's only two of the possible options available to you.

You should strongly consider running the maximization software available on this website. That way, you can compare all of your options and decide which is best based on your expectations with regard to variables such as your maximum ages of life.

Best, Jerry