Will collecting SS at 62 permanently reduce my spousal and survivor benefits for teenage twins?

Yes, filing at 62 will permanently reduce both your retirement benefit AND your spousal benefit. When your husband files, you'll get the higher of either your own reduced benefit OR up to 50% of his PIA (also reduced because you filed early). The reduction is permanent. Suspending at FRA won't help with the spousal reduction - that's locked in when you first file. You can earn delayed retirement credits on your own benefit between 67-70 if you suspend, but that only matters if your own benefit stays higher than the spousal amount. As for survivor benefits, yes - filing early affects those too, but it's more complex. If your husband passes, you'd get the higher of your own benefit OR up to 100% of what he was receiving (reduced if you take survivor benefits before your FRA).

Let me clarify a couple points. Taking your retirement at 62 does permanently reduce your own benefit (to about 70% of your FRA amount). When your husband files years later, you'll receive your reduced benefit PLUS the difference to reach your reduced spousal benefit (which maxes at about 32.5% of his PIA if you filed at 62). For survivor benefits: If your husband passes away, you would receive the higher of: 1. Your own benefit 2. The full amount your husband was receiving when he died The early filing reduction only applies to your own benefit in this case. So if he maximizes his benefit by waiting until 70, and then passes away, you could switch to that higher survivor benefit regardless of your early filing.

To clarify the confusion: Filing early for your OWN retirement benefits doesn't reduce your survivor benefits. However, if you take SURVIVOR benefits before your full retirement age, those survivor benefits would be reduced. In your situation, if you take retirement at 62 and your husband passes away after he's begun collecting, you could switch to the full survivor benefit based on his record (assuming it's higher than your benefit). The fact that you started your own benefit early doesn't reduce the survivor amount.

my wife filed at 62 and I waited to 70 and the ssa rep told us she could get 1/2 of mine when i filed but when the time came they said NO WAY because she filed early and was stuck with the lower amount. the whole system is RIGGED and they tell you one thing then do another!!! be careful of what they promise you!!!

have you considered whether your husbands earnings might put your kids over the family maximum? there's a cap on how much one earner's record can pay out to a family. might affect your calculations

The family maximum would be based on YOUR record since the children would be drawing benefits on your record. It's typically 150-180% of your primary insurance amount. With twins plus your benefit, you could hit that cap, which would reduce each child's benefit (but not yours).

I had a similar situation with young kids. Tried calling SSA for 3 weeks and kept getting disconnected or put on endless holds. Finally used Claimyr service (claimyr.com) and got through to a representative in 20 minutes. They helped me understand exactly how my early filing would affect all my future benefits and got my kids' applications processed in the same call. Saved me so much stress! You can see how it works in their video: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU

my sister had kids late in life too and she did what ur planning. started at 62 for the kids but then her husband got sick and couldn't work till he planned so their whole strategy fell apart. just saying things don't always go as planned.

Just wondering but have you actually checked how much your kids will get? I think it's only 50% of your benefit split between them so might not be that much money to justify the permanent reduction

One strategy to consider: If you have sufficient work history, you could continue working a bit longer and file when the twins are 14 or 15. That reduces the duration of your early filing penalty while still getting them several years of benefits. The kids get payments until they graduate high school (if they're still 18 at graduation) or up to age 19 if still in high school. Also, if your husband's benefit will be significantly higher than yours, remember the spousal boost later might offset some of the early filing reduction.

Wait so what happens if you suspend your benefits at 67? Do the kids benefits stop too?? This happened to my cousin and he had NO idea the kids payments would stop when he suspended to get the 8% per year increases!

Thank you all for the helpful insights! I think I need to weigh the immediate benefit for the twins against my long-term retirement security. Since I'd lose the kids' benefits if I suspend at 67, and my early filing permanently reduces my spousal amount, I'm now leaning toward waiting a couple more years before filing. Maybe I can work part-time a bit longer and file when they're 15 to minimize the early filing reduction while still getting them some benefits before they finish high school. I'll definitely use that Claimyr service to talk with SSA and go through my specific numbers before making the final decision.