Hi Larry,

Great book (Get What's Yours Revised)! I will be 62 in June 2018 and my ex-wife (we were married for 34 years until four years ago) will turn 62 in July 2018. I worked in private industry until age 52 and for the past nine years have been working for a city government where I don't pay into SS (I pay into an alternative SS retirement program). I expect to continue working until age 72 at which time I will look to retire. If I were to try and collect om my ex-wife's SS in July 2018, 1) would I pay $1 in taxes for every $2 I received each year until I turned 66 and 4 months and, 2) would I be considered as having filed for my own benefit (I'm guessing I would file to suspend my collection until age 70?) but then be locked into the benefit level of my ex-spouse forever instead of the much higher one I'd get when I reached age 70? Or should I just wait until my FRA of 66 & 4 months to claim against my ex-spouse? Many thanks in advance. Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season to you and your family!

Hi,

Thanks, and same to you!

Since you were born after January 1 1954, you'll never be able to apply for divorced spousal benefits without also filing for your own retirement benefits. You could only be paid the higher of those 2 rates, and a) your benefit rate will be reduced for age if you start drawing before your full retirement age (FRA), and b) your benefits prior to FRA could be subject to withholding based on the Social Security earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html). All of that is true whether or not you voluntarily suspend your own retirement benefits when you reach FRA. So, assuming that your full retirement age rate (PIA) is more than 50% of your ex's PIA, you could never be paid divorced spousal benefits as long as your ex is living.

It may be best for you to wait until age 70 to start drawing your benefits if possible, since that's when your retirement rate will reach it's highest point. However, your actual best strategy depends on a number of different variables. It also sounds like your benefit rate may be adversely affected by the WEP provision (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf) if you receive a pension based on your city government work. Our software is programmed to handle WEP considerations, so you may want to strongly consider using it to explore and compare your filing options.

Best, Jerry