Social Security benefits with age gap (64/52) and self-employment income concerns - where to start?

Social Security is based on your highest 35 years of earnings, not just the last few years before retirement. Each year's earnings are indexed for inflation before calculating your average. So if you've been underreporting income to minimize taxes, that will absolutely affect your benefits. With your age gap, you should look into spousal benefits. When you reach retirement age, you could potentially claim up to 50% of your husband's benefit amount if that's higher than your own benefit. Regarding Medicare, your husband will be eligible at 65, but you'll need to wait until you're 65 regardless of when he claims. The Medicare.gov website has excellent resources specifically for self-employed individuals. If you want to boost benefits, getting W-2 employment could help if your reported earnings would be higher than what you're currently showing on tax returns. Even a few years of higher earnings can make a difference if they replace lower-earning years in your top 35.

we did the same thing with our business!! always took every deduction and now my ss payment is way lower than expected. wish someone had warned us about this 20 yrs ago lol. definitely look at your earnings record online to see what ssa actually has recorded for you.

Create a my Social Security account at ssa.gov to see your earnings history and benefit estimates. This is essential for self-employed individuals who need to verify SSA has correct earnings information. For your husband who's approaching Medicare eligibility (65), he should sign up during his Initial Enrollment Period (3 months before his 65th birthday month, his birthday month, and 3 months after) to avoid late enrollment penalties - even if he's not taking Social Security yet. Regarding your age gap: if your husband claims Social Security at his Full Retirement Age (probably 66+4 months or 66+6 months depending on birth year), he'll get 100% of his benefit. Waiting until 70 would give him an additional 8% per year in delayed retirement credits. With your age difference, a smart strategy might be for him to maximize his benefit by waiting until 70 if financially feasible. This not only increases his payment but potentially your survivor benefit if he passes away before you. For self-employed individuals, your Social Security tax (15.3% for Social Security and Medicare combined) is paid on net earnings, not gross. So yes, maximizing deductions does directly lower your Social Security benefits.

DONT BOTHER TRYING TO CALL SSA DIRECTLY!!! I tried for TWO WEEKS straight with this same situation (wife and I had age gap, self employed). Couldn't get through EVER or got disconnected after waiting for hours! Complete nightmare. Finally I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real SSA agent in under 10 minutes! They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent was actually super helpful and explained exactly how self-employment income affects benefits and what our options were with the age gap. Totally worth it because there's specific rules for self-employed people that most websites don't explain clearly.

my sister waited until 70 to claim and got way more money but my brother in law took his at 62 and regrets it now. just depends on if u need the money right away i guess

Everyone's giving advice about the SS benefits but nobody's answering your question about resources! Check out "Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security" by Kotlikoff. It was SUPER helpful for me and my husband (also self-employed). And the AARP website has a benefits calculator that's easier to use than the SSA one IMO. Also, honestly? The tax situation is really frustrating. We ran our business the same way for years (maximizing expenses, etc) and didn't realize how much it would hurt our benefits. I would definitely talk to a financial advisor who specializes in retirement planning for self-employed folks. Some of them offer free consultations.

Since your husband is turning 64, he should definitely look into Medicare soon even if he's delaying Social Security. Medicare has different enrollment periods than Social Security, and missing his Initial Enrollment Period could result in permanent premium penalties. If you're both covered by a qualified health plan through your business, he might be able to delay Medicare enrollment without penalties, but there are specific rules around this for self-employed individuals. Regarding boosting your Social Security numbers - yes, getting W-2 employment for the last few years can help IF the W-2 income would be significantly higher than your current net self-employment income. Remember that each higher-earning year replaces a lower-earning year in your top 35, so even a few years can make a difference. Most importantly, since you mention being self-employed for 25+ years, make absolutely sure that all your self-employment tax payments were properly credited to your Social Security records. I've seen many cases where self-employed individuals had missing years in their earnings records because of filing issues.

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