I will be 69 in a week (Oct. 2022) and have been intending to wait until age 70 to collect my monthly SS benefits to get the annual 8% after my full retirement age of 66. With the new COLA of 8.7% is there any benefit to starting benefits at 69 rather than waiting till age 70?

Hi Larry, I read Money Magic -it’s fantastic.
I know you have said before that you can’t rely on the staff at the social security office. I became a widow at age 53. My husband was 52. I will be turning 64 next month. It is my understanding I have two options:

1. Claim on my husbands account first -then I could switch to claim on my account at 70

2. Claim my social security early -and switch to my late husbands social security at my full retirement age 66 and & months. . Social security told me I’d get the full amount if I took it at 65.

I recently re-married and my new wife turns 62 in February of 2023. She is considering collecting SSA at that time. Is she eligible to receive 50% of my benefit when I begin receiving my full time benefit in September of 2023?

Larry, I am retirement age. I was laid off my job 9/22/22. I received a Severance package. I would like to apply for social security benefits. However, I was thinking I should wait until may February of 2023 to do so. My question is, will benefit me to wait until my salary for 2022 is reported to social security since I'm assuming the severance pay will bump up my salary for 2022 therefore make perhaps my social security benefit a little higher.

Hi,

I am 67 years old (born in Feb 1955) waiting for my husband’s spousal benefits. We are debating whether to wait for 5 months for an increase of $100/mo in his benefits or waiting one and a half years for an increase of $300/mo.

I want to claim my retirement benefits immediately, before my spouse files for retirement benefits and I am deemed. My retirement payment will be less than $200/mo.

Can I file for retroactive retirement benefits or will taking retroactive benefits have a negative effect on my future benefits?

Hi Larry,
I will turn 66 years and 4 months on August 5, 2022 (my full retirement age). When must I apply for social security to start getting the benefits at the increased rate in January 2023? Thanks for answering.

I'm 69 and am deferring Social Security based on my own earnings. However I'm receiving spousal benefits based on my husband's record and plan to switch at age 70. Does it make sense to switch to my own benefit now and collect the proposed 8.7 percent COLA increase in January since that's more than the 8 percent I earn by waiting?

My wife is 62, she is collecting retirement. I'm working and we don't need any addition income. Should she start collecting her social security and invest all money or wait until full retirement age?

Hi Larry

My wife is 62, and I am 59. A year ago, she was disgnosed with stage-4 lung cancer, and we are doing what we can to keep her in the game.

Financially, we are fortunate, so do not need the income flow from Social Security right now.

However, like everyone, we would like to maximize our years of hard work.

Is it better for us to try to begin her benefits ASAP, or is there a longer term benefit to myself if we were to wait?

Hi-I am curious to understand, a further question based on "Money Magic" page 72, how is that strategy beneficial long term? If husband claims early, we will permanently lock in a lower benefit, If I assign some hypothetical numbers, if the husband waits until 66 (assume FRA) and the wife until 70, collectively they will receive substantially more if they both live to 100, than if he had filed at 62 and she at 70. Thank you, is my analysis flawed?