Confused about spousal benefits - can I collect at 60 while husband takes SS at 67?

Hi there! I went through this exact situation with my wife. Here's what you need to know: - You can't collect spousal benefits until your husband actually files for his retirement benefits - The earliest you can collect spousal benefits is age 62 (not 60), but you'll get a reduced amount - At age 60, you could only collect survivor benefits if your husband passed away - You can claim your own retirement as early as 62 (reduced) or wait until your Full Retirement Age (probably 67 for you) The best strategy usually depends on your earnings history. If your benefit amount is less than half of your husband's, it might make sense to claim your own first, then switch to spousal later when he files.

my sister got confised about this too. she thought survivor and spousal were the same thing but there totally different! survivor is only if someone dies, spousal is when both alive. she took hers at 62 and regrets it now cause the check is so small.

The others haven't mentioned an important fact: the "file and suspend" strategy that used to let one spouse file for benefits while the other claimed spousal benefits (but continued to let their own grow) was eliminated in 2016. Your best strategy now depends on your respective earnings histories: 1. You cannot claim spousal benefits until your husband actually files for retirement 2. Spousal benefits max out at 50% of your husband's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) 3. If you claim ANY benefits before your Full Retirement Age (FRA), they'll be permanently reduced 4. When you file for benefits, SSA automatically gives you whichever is higher - your own benefit or the spousal benefit For proper planning, I'd recommend creating an account at my.ssa.gov and looking at your estimated benefits. Then you can make some calculations based on different claiming ages.

The whole system is DESIGNED to be confusing!!! My husband and I spent MONTHS trying to figure out the best approach and the SSA reps gave us different answers every time we called. Total nightmare. And then when we finally made a decision, they messed up my application anyway. Just be prepared for a ton of frustration.

When I called Social Security about my benefits last year, I waited on hold for 3+ hours only to get disconnected! Happened twice. I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Saved me so much frustration and the agent was able to walk me through all my spousal benefit questions. Just thought I'd mention it since you'll probably need to speak with SSA directly to get answers specific to your situation.

If ur husband has really high earnings and urs are lower, here's what I'd do: 1. Let him wait til 67 like he plans (smart move) 2. U could take ur own at 62 but only if u really need the $$ 3. When he files at 67, check if 50% of his benefit > ur benefit 4. If yes, they'll bump u up to the higher amount But honestly everyones situation is different. Delaying benefits almost always pays off if u can afford to wait!

One more thing to consider - if you're still working when you reach 62, and you claim benefits before your Full Retirement Age (FRA), you'll be subject to the earnings test. For 2025, you can only earn about $22,400 before they start withholding $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above that limit. So if you're planning to continue working into your 60s with substantial income, it might not make sense to claim early. Those withheld benefits aren't lost forever, but it complicates things.

I strongly recommend consulting with a financial advisor who specializes in Social Security planning. We paid for a consultation and it was worth every penny. They ran multiple scenarios through specialized software and showed us exactly how different claiming strategies would play out over our lifetimes. The difference between optimal and sub-optimal claiming strategies can literally be tens of thousands of dollars over your lifetime. This isn't something to figure out through a forum (though we're trying to help!).

My wife's younger than me too. I waited til my FRA to claim and she waited til hers. Glad we did! Her check would've been tiny if she'd claimed at 62. Now we have enough to actually enjoy retirement a bit. Good luck figuring it all out!