I took SS a few months after my FRA in 2009. My wife is 62 this summer and would receive $1,085 then or $1,632 at her FRA. My SS monthly payment is approximately 30% more than her FRA benefit so she will have the widow's benefit in the future.

With health insurance is her primary expense, until she is eligible for lower cost Medicare, is there any reason to wait for her FRA? IRA withdrawals of that amount, over four years, $52K plus taxes. The FRA's $547 high payment would take around 8-9 years to 'pay back the IRA withdrawals and, including the four year wait, put me several years past the IRS life expectancy chart.

Thank you for any suggestions.

Hi,

The main downside to taking her benefits early is that your wife would then be stuck with a lower monthly benefit rate for as long as both of you are living. However, if you're relatively certain that you won't live past when your wife reaches roughly age 78, then a good argument could be made for starting to draw her benefits early. If you die after she reaches full retirement age (FRA), your wife would still be eligible for your higher rate as a survivor instead of her own rate even if she takes her benefits early. That said, we don't recommend basing decisions about when to start drawing benefits on a breakeven analysis.

It sounds like you have a good understanding of the issues involved, so the decision on when to apply is really up to your wife. She may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully explore all of her options so that she can make the best possible choice.

Best, Jerry