Ask Larry

My husband is 66 and currently collecting his SS, I will be 62 in a few months. If I collect my SS will it be off of my work recorded or will they make be collect off his, and how will the benefits changes once he passes and I am still alive?

Hi. Whenever you apply for either your own Social Security retirement benefits or for spousal benefits, you'll be deemed to be applying for both. As a result, you'll only be able to collect roughly the higher of the two benefit rates, and your benefit amount will be reduced for age if you start collecting benefits prior to your full retirement age (FRA).

Regardless of when you file for retirement and spousal benefits, though, if your husband dies before you you could be paid up to roughly the higher of a) your own retirement benefit rate or b) your husband's benefit amount. No reduction for age will be applied to your survivor benefit rate as long as you're at least FRA when you start drawing survivor benefits.

Your best filing strategy depends on a number of different factors, so you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry