I am 63 and currently am being advised to wait until I am 66 to retire. If I retire now my benefit would be around 770. If I wait until 66 I will receive 949. I am married and my husband's benefit is 1659.00,,I wouldn't receive any benefit from his social security as a widow..could I collect it now and just save it? Should I wait to collect?

Hi,

If you were born prior January 2 1954, your best strategy may be to file for spousal benefits only on your husband's record at age 66, and then file on your own record at age 70. If your retirement benefit rate would be $949 at age 66, it would be about $1252 if you wait until age 70 to start drawing it.

I don't know why you say that you wouldn't be eligible for widow's benefits on your husband's record. The surviving member of a couple generally receives the higher of their 2 benefit rates, so it sounds like you will be eligible for widow's benefits if your husband dies first.

You may want to consider running the maximization software available on this website. That will permit you to explore all of your filing options and help you determine the best strategy.

Best, Jerry