Ask Larry

How Much Will My Wife Get If She Retires Now?

My wife wishes to retire now. She is She was 65 on Feb. 14. She has no income and will use my amount which is 19,120 a year. What will her amount be ias of April 1.
thank you

Hi,

That depends on her earnings history. Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of work-adjusted earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf).

Before filing, your wife should consider running the maximization software available on this website. Not only will that tell her how much she can expect to receive, it will also determine if she has other better filing options available to her.

Best, Jerry

Posted: 
Mar 28 2017 - 6:30am
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