I am 57 and my husband is 56. I stopped working full time in 2013 and only work part time now. My husband continues to work full time. During my 35 full-time working years, my husband and I earned about the same income. He is planning on working until he is 67. If I decide to take my Social Security benefits early , what would be my best option? Should I take mine and draw off my SSI earnings at age 62? Or if I wait til I'm 63 (and my husband 62) can I take spousal benefits (or would that be considered file and suspend)? Additional information is that our estimated SSI monthly incomes are about equal (each receiving approx $1600/mth at age 62 per our SSI statements) and his income is approx $65K/yr. Thank you

Hi,

Since both of you were born after January 1 1954, neither you or your husband could file just for spousal benefits without also filing for your own benefits at the same time. And since your benefit rates are roughly equal, that means that neither of you will be able to receive spousal benefits.

When to start drawing your benefits is a personal decision. If you start drawing your benefits at age 62, your benefit rate will be roughly 30% lower than what you would receive at your full retirement age (FRA) of 67. Conversely if you waited until age 70 to start drawing, your benefit rate would be roughly 24% higher than your FRA rate. There is no way to know for sure what's best without knowing how long both you and your husband will live.

You and your husband should strongly consider using our maximization software to compare all of your filing options and determine what you feel is your best overall strategy.

Best, Jerry