I read your informative article in Forbes this weekend. I have a scheduled apt. w/ SS on July 14th to decide if i should start taking benefits at 66 or wait until 70. After a brief look at the software and wondering if i could do this on my own thought i would go ahead and ask my question in this format. My financial advisor says wait; tax advisor says start at 66.
I turned 66 on July 4, 2016. I am retiring from the state of California as a public school teacher as of this last month. I worked from 2001 - 2016. Since i have earned SS credit from employment in Washington state in first half of my career i am affected by GPO/WEP. My account says i have earned $893 and this is the amount that will be modified due to my CA pension. I have had numerous meetings with SS with different answers. Because my pension amount is only based on 15 years i know maximizing the SS benefit is particularly important. I am divorced but was married for over 10 years but have been told my earnings exceed my ex so the spousal benefit is not an issue in figuring out my benefit. I do not know if this can be answered now or if you recommend doing the software but any general thoughts would be greatly appreciated regarding applying now at 66 or waiting until age 70. Thank you! Christine

Hi Christine,

Sorry for not getting to your question sooner. It does sound like your benefit will be reduced due to WEP (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/wep-chart.html), however, WEP doesn't kick in until you become entitled to the non-covered pension. If your CA pension would be higher if you waited to start drawing it, there may be a case for taking your Social Security now instead of age 70. Also, since the GPO provision (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf) doesn't begin until you are receiving the non-covered pension, you could potentially file just a divorced spousal benefit now, and then file on your own at age 70.

The important thing to remember is that your own Social Security benefit will be 32% higher if you wait until age 70, so if you don't need the money to live on prior to that, you may want to lean toward waiting. It is, of course, a personal choice.

By the way, the maximization software available on this website handles WEP & GPO considerations, so you may want to consider running it to help with your decision.

Best, Jerry