My husband would like to retire this year at age 62 (born in Dec. 1955) from a Steel Workers job he held for 39 years. He does have a small pension plan from work, however, the company stopped adding to that account approx. 25 yrs. ago. He has terrible arthritis in his hips and 3 herniated discs in his back and doesn't really want to retire, however since the pain is worsening, he needs to do something. I had to leave my position at work due to a disability (MS & Narcolepsy) and have been collecting Work Disability Benefits and SSDI since 1998 and am now 57 yrs. old. (We've been married for just under 38 yrs.)
Our questions are: --Can he retire at age 62 and what will he collect? --What is the earliest age for him to retire and get the maximum amount of benefits from SS? -- Will my Work Disability Benefits and/or my SSDI be affected by his retirement? My work disability benefits will normally expire when I reach age 65. --If either of us were to pass away prior to his retirement, who will collect on what? --Would I be able to collect on his pension while receiving disability benefits? --Would he be able to collect any income from SSDI - if I were to pass?
Thank you,
Couple in PA.

Hi,

I'll address your questions in order:
- Yes, your husband could file at age 62, but his benefit rate would then be about 25.5% less than his full retirement age (FRA) rate. His FRA is age 66 & 2 months. His monthly benefit rate would be determined by an average of his highest 35 years of wage-indexed earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf). But, he could lose some or all of his benefits due to the Social Security earnings test if he continues working (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html).
- In order to receive his highest possible monthly rate, your husband would need to wait until age 70 to start drawing retirement benefits.
- His entitlement to benefits won't affect your Social Security disability benefits, but I don't know whether it could affect any other benefits you receive.
- The surviving member of a couple generally receives the higher of their 2 benefit rates, but the exact amount can vary somewhat depending on when they started drawing benefits. And, there can be several filing strategies involved if the surviving spouse is under full retirement age when their spouse dies.
- You couldn't be eligible for spousal benefits until at least age 62, and only if your husband's full retirement age rate (PIA) is more than twice as much as your full disability rate. And, vice versa for your husband.
- If you die after your husband starts drawing his benefits, he could only receive benefits on your record if your benefit rate is higher than his own.

It sounds like your husband may qualify for Social Security disability benefits if he stops working. If he qualifies, that would likely be his best option since it would enable him to effectively start receiving his full retirement age benefit rate early, and he would still have the option to suspend his benefits at full retirement age and resume them at age 70 in order to receive his maximum possible monthly rate. He may want to strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website in order to compare all of his options and determine his best strategy.

Best, Jerry