I have been divorced from a man I was married to for 30 years. He has just filed for ss. They called and asked if I would also like to file on him. I am 62. His amount at last report I've seen was $1350. I really want to marry a man that is 70, disabled vet and draws $1250 plus 100% disabled vet benefits. Wanting to make practical decision. Any thoughts.

Hi,

I really don't have enough information to properly answer your question. If you have enough work credits to qualify for retirement benefits on your own record, you will be deemed to file for those benefits whenever you apply for either divorced spousal benefits or spousal benefits. In that case, you would basically only receive the higher of the 2 rates, and your benefit rate will be reduced for age if you start drawing prior to your full retirement age (FRA).

If you aren't insured for benefits on your own record, then you would potentially qualify for 50% of your ex-husband's full retirement age rate (PIA) if you wait until FRA to file, but your rate would be reduced by as much as roughly 31% if you start drawing at age 62. However, if you remarry you either couldn't get divorced spousal benefits, or they would terminate if you're already drawing them at the time you remarry. But if you do remarry, you could then file for spousal benefits on your new husband's record with the same basic options that you previously had with regard to divorced spousal benefits on your ex's record.

You may want to strongly consider running the maximization software available on this website before making any decisions. The software will allow you to run various 'what-if' scenarios so that you can explore all of your options and determine your best filing strategy.

Best, Jerry