For your specific situation with a 12-year age gap, here's what you should consider: 1. Your husband should coordinate Medicare enrollment at 65 regardless of when he takes Social Security 2. Since you're only 52, you have 10+ years before you reach your own eligibility for retirement benefits 3. Given your age difference, maximizing your husband's benefit has long-term advantages: - Higher survivor benefits for you if he passes away first - Increased household income when you're both in your 70s and 80s - Protection against longevity risk (outliving your money) 4. For self-employed individuals with historically low reported income: - Yes, working a W-2 job with higher reported income for even 3-5 years can significantly increase benefits - Consider restructuring your business to pay yourselves higher W-2 wages if possible - Look into voluntary increased contributions to Social Security (there are limitations) The book recommendation from another commenter is excellent. I'd also suggest scheduling a consultation with an SSA claims specialist to review your specific earnings record and options. Their expertise is free and they can model different claiming strategies based on your exact situation.

just wanted to add that the medicare part is totally different from ss benefits! my husband signed up for medicare right at 65 but waited till 68 for his ss checks to start. you can do them separate

One more thing to consider: if you can't qualify for survivor benefits based on this marriage, check if you might qualify based on your previous marriage if it lasted at least 10 years. If you were married to your ex for 10+ years, you could potentially claim survivor benefits on his record when he passes (or even spousal benefits if he's still living and you're both old enough). Also, when you apply, bring any evidence that you held yourselves out as married to the community - joint bank accounts, insurance policies listing each other as spouses, deeds or leases showing both names, even holiday cards addressed to you as a married couple. SSA looks at the totality of circumstances in cases like yours.

BTW dont forget you have to apply for the $255 death benefit too! Its not much but every bit helps when dealing with funeral costs

thats always how it goes lol! glad u figured it out tho!!!

Thanks for updating us! This makes much more sense. Yes, SSI does have strict asset limits, so the SSA representative was correct about that program. This is a common area of confusion for many people. If your father's only income is his Social Security retirement benefit and it's on the lower end, it can sometimes be worth looking into SSI as a supplement. But with $300k in savings, he definitely wouldn't qualify until those assets were spent down substantially. Glad you got this sorted out!

Another thing to consider is taxes - a lump sum payment for 6 months might bump you into a higher tax bracket for that year. You might want to talk to a tax professional before making the decision. Sometimes it's better to just start benefits when you're ready without the backpay.

My husband and I went through this exact same situation last year. Filed 5 months after his FRA and requested backdating. The Medicare premium refund was a complete nightmare - Social Security and Medicare kept pointing fingers at each other saying the other agency needed to handle it. We finally got it sorted, but it took calling SSA multiple times. Just be persistent!

wait im confused now... so if her husband takes survivor benefits at 60 but keeps working until 62, would he lose some of those payments? and does the survivor benefit amount depend on when she dies or is it always the same?

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information! Based on your responses, it sounds like our plan makes sense. My husband will probably wait until he actually retires at 62 to claim any survivor benefits (if I pass away before then) to avoid the earnings test issues. Then he can still switch to his own benefit at 70. Can anyone recommend the best way to get this strategy confirmed officially with SSA? Should we make an appointment at our local office or is there a specific department we should call?