Dear Larry,

My husband was born June 22, 1951 and plans to work until 70, though he will cut down to part time hours next summer. I was born January 1, 1953 and lost my job three years ago. Presently, SS reports state he will collect $3571.00 at 70 and has a maximum family benefit of $4641.00. My amount has dropped to $1780.00 at 70 from $2421.00 when I stopped working.

Like the software. two things noticed the output were different than my expected should I ran it using spreadsheet:

1. My son was born 1/2001. If we start my husband's pension this year, my son will get child SS till he graduated from high school 6/2019 or he start college 9/2019. the report I got had Andrew's collect 0 for 2019

Dear Larry,

I like your software. Two things I noticed in the output were different than from the results I tried to produce in a spreadsheet:

1. My son was born 1/2001. If we start my husband's Social Security this year, my son will get child SS till he graduates from high school 6/2019 or he start college 9/2019. the report I got had Andrew's collect 0 for 2019

My wife is 62 and has low earnings and will apply for social security on her own record and receive 727 per month.
I am 59 and will wait until age 70 to take my full benefit, can she take spousal benefits after I turn mine on at age 70?
Thanks

Hi,

Potentially, yes. She could get an excess spousal benefit on your record when you apply, but only if 1/2 of your full retirement age benefit amount (PIA) is higher than her own PIA. Here's an example:

Hi Presidential Candidate,

Got a quick question for you that I think I know the answer but I want to confirm. My wife is five years older than me. If she filed for her own SS at her FRA, can she switch to spousal benefit when I apply at either 66/10 or 70? I think congress might have closed this "loophole" but there are only about five million rules, I could be wrong.

Thank you

Dear Larry,

My husband took early social security benefits at age 63 in 2007. I will be 62 in 2017 and we have been married for more than 30 years. I believe I cannot take a spousal benefit and suspend mine. I have worked enough quarters to qualify for my own benefits. He was always the higher income earner in our family. I need help trying to figure out which would be the greater amount; mine or spousal?

Thanks, Victoria

Dear Victoria,

Hi Larry,

I am 61. I will not turn on my SS Benefit until age 70. Will my wife get 50% of the amount I receive at 70, or only an amount equal to 50% of my FRA amount, which would be about 24% lower. Thanks Larry and your team for your clarification.

Jeff

Dear Jeff,

I read your answer to a recent question (http://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/can-i-file-online-just-spousal-benefit) asking if one could file online just for a spousal benefit.

Hi Larry-
I am submitting this question for a friend who will be 67 in October. She started drawing Social Security early when she turned 62. At that time her husband was 65 and was receiving disability benefits, transitioning to Social Security when he turned 66. Now she is wondering if there is any way to increase her benefit by filing for excess spousal benefits or does she even qualify? Thank you for your help.

Hi,

My wife will be 62 soon and her benefit if she decides to collect at that time will be $650 monthly. I am currently receiving disability social security of $2175 monthly, which was just granted. I am also 62. My social security before being granted disability was $1658 monthly. Since my wifes social security is less than half of mine I believe she would be given an amount equal to half of mine? My question is would that figure be based on my social security amount I received before being awarded disability or the larger amount of $2175. Thank you and have a great day!