Hi Larry, My husband is 7 years older than me and makes more income than I do. If he retires at 67 (FRA), can I take the spousal benefit on his work record at 62, so I can spend time with him but also continue to work part-time to increase my own work record benefits until I reach 67? Currently I work full-time. Then I am wondering can I fully retire 67 and switch to my own FRA benefit amount which would be more per month than the spouse benefit I would be receiving? And then can I change the benefit one more time? If my husband should pass away after we are both fully retired, am I allowed to then forgo my SSN and claim the survivor benefit on his work record? His SSN payment will be substantially more than mine per month. Thanks! This will be helpful in deciding if I should semi-retire at 62 or work full-time until 67.

Hi,

Since you were apparently born after January 1 1954 you will be deemed to be filing for both your own Social Security retirement benefits and spousal benefits whenever you file for either of those benefits. Therefore, there is no way that you could file just for spousal benefits and then switch to your own benefits at a later date. If you file for benefits prior to full retirement age (FRA) and your husband is already drawing his benefits at that time then you would basically receive the higher of your own benefit rate or your spousal rate, and your benefit amount would be reduced for age. Furthermore, your benefits could be subject to withholding if you earn too much to be paid benefits under Social Security's earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html).

If your husband dies before you you could potentially be paid up to the higher of your own benefit rate or your husband's benefit rate. The best filing strategy for you and your husband depends on many different variables, so you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully explore and compare all of your options so that you can choose the best possible strategy for claiming your benefits.

Best, Jerry