My wife and I have been running a non-incorporated business since since 1996 and file our taxes jointly. I just discovered that the for the last 15 years SSI earnings have all been assigned to her and show $0 for myself. Taking into consideration that these years have been of lower taxable income, will these 15 years of $0 lower my SSI benefits?

Hi. Having zero earnings in a year doesn't exactly lower your benefit rate, it just doesn't increase it. Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings. If you have less than 35 years of covered earnings, zero years are used in the 35 year average. That obviously results in lower average earnings and, it turn, a lower benefit rate.

You could potentially ask Social Security to split your past business earnings between your and your wife's earnings records, but that would mean removing earnings from your wife's earnings history and adding them to yours (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0301802334). And, depending on your and your wife's entire individual earnings histories, taking earnings away from her to add to your record might mean lowering her benefit by more than it would increase your benefit. Furthermore, removing earnings from the record of the member of a couple with the higher average earnings history could have an adverse effect on potential survivor benefits.

It sounds like you and your wife may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry