I will be 65 in August. I was just laid off ($50K) yr job. I was married Sept 1979 divorced Jul 1989
1. Can I collect my spouse's SSN? At least until I am 66?
2. If I take another lower paying job I assume it will not increase my SSN by waiting until 70?
3. What time period do I have to apply? Someone told me three months before your birthday?
4. Is that for Medicare also?
Thank you!
Hi,
1) No, assuming that your marriage and divorce dates are accurate. You must be married for at least 10 full years in order to qualify for divorced spousal benefits. You may want to double check the date that your divorce became final, though, since in some states there is or was a delay between the date of a divorce decree and that it became legally final ( https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200305165).
2) Your retirement benefit rate is based on your highest 35 years of wage-indexed earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf). You can't lower your benefit rate by working a lower paying job, but you might not increase it. Regardless of that, though, if you wait until age 70 to start drawing your retirement benefits your benefit rate will be 32% higher than if you start drawing at your full retirement age (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/delayret.html). Before filing, you should strongly consider using our maximization software to compare your options and determine your best strategy.
3) You can file up to 4 months in advance of the month you want to claim benefits, or at least as late as the month that you want to claim benefits. And if you file after your full retirement age you can claim benefits for up to 6 months prior to your month of filing.
4) You can file for Part A of Medicare anytime from 4 months before to 6 months after the month that you want Part A coverage to begin. Enrolling for Part B coverage is more complicated and depends on a number of factors (https://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/get-parts-a-and-b/when-sig...), but if you want Part B coverage to begin with the month that you turn 65 you should file 1 to 3 months before then.
Best, Jerry
