Larry, thank you for taking my question.
I am 62, retired physician with taxable and tax deferred assets, father of 8 year old twins, spouse of 44 yo homemaker, with 50% chance of returning to work force with salary greater than 100k/year.
If I take social security at age 62 my monthly benefit is $2200, at FRA 3276, and 4100 at 70.
My two children are entitled to 1200 each till they are age 18 if start at age 62.
Should I apply for social security benefits and my children as well at age 62 or wait until FRA of 66+10 months or till 70?
Thank you
Naci
Hi Naci. I'm sorry, but I can't make that decision for you. I can, though, tell you what factors you need to consider. Starting your benefits now would obviously allow you, your children, and probably your wife to start drawing benefits sooner, but the downside would be that you would receive a lower monthly benefit rate for as long as you live. Furthermore, if you file now and if you end up dying before your spouse does, her widow's benefit will be limited to the higher of a) your reduced benefit amount, or b) 82.5% of your primary insurance amount (PIA). Your PIA is equal to the amount that you'd receive if you start drawing your benefits at full retirement age (FRA).
Thus, drawing your benefits now would substantially reduce your wife's potential widow's benefit rate. For example, if your PIA is $3276 then 82.5% of your PIA would amount to roughly $2700, whereas your age 70 rate would be roughly $4100. Therefore, starting your benefits now instead of at age 70 may result in your wife ending up with a widow's rate that's roughly 2/3rds as much as she'd get if you waited until age 70 to start drawing. Of course, waiting until age 70 would mean that no child or spousal benefits could be paid until then.
Also, if you return to work before reaching FRA both your benefits and your children's benefits would almost certainly be suspended due to the Social Security earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html).
The bottom line is that no one can see the future, so no one can tell you for sure what your best filing strategy would be. Using our software (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html) would allow you to compare and analyze all of your various options so that you can determine what you believe would be the best overall strategy for maximizing benefits for your family.
Best, Jerry
