I am 66 my husband is 63. I have applied and will be receiving full SS in July this year. I am the lower income spouse. My husband has applied for SSDI and was told he could apply for early SS while waiting for a decision on his SSDI (which is at 2nd stage). He is 100% disabled US Veteran. Should he apply to take spousal benefits while waiting for decision on SSDI or should he reply for early SS? He plans to apply now for SS to start when he is 63 in Sept. What will happen once (if) he is approved for SSDI will he automatically go on SSDI? Thank you.

Hi,

Since your husband was apparently born after January 1 1954 he couldn't file just for spousal benefits without also filing for his own retirement benefits at the same time. On the other hand, since you were apparently born prior to January 2 1954 you could file just for spousal benefits at your full retirement age (FRA) of 66 while allowing your own benefit rate to grow until age 70. However, your husband would have to be drawing either his retirement benefits or disability benefits (SSDI) in order for you to be potentially qualify for spousal benefits. And, that strategy would likely only be advantageous if your own retirement benefit rate at age 70 would exceed your spousal rate. Furthermore, if you're already drawing on your own record you would no longer have the option of filing just for spousal benefits while letting your own rate grow.

If your husband files for retirement benefits before FRA his rate will be reduced for age. However, that reduction would only be permanent if he draws reduced retirement benefits for any months prior to his first month of SSDI entitlement. If his SSDI claim is eventually approved and it's established that he was entitled to SSDI for all of the months he drew reduced retirement benefits then his benefit rate would be retroactively increased to his full retirement age rate (PIA). But, if his first month of SSDI entitlement is later than his first month of retirement benefits then his benefit rate would be adjusted to only assess an age reduction for the months that he drew reduced retirement benefits prior to his SSDI entitlement date.

Before deciding what to do, you and your husband should strongly consider using our maximization software to compare all of your various options in order to determine your best overall strategy.

Best, Jerry