Will my early SS retirement at 62 affect my younger wife's future benefits when she's eligible?

Your early filing decision does affect your wife, but only in certain ways. If she claims spousal benefits, they'll be based on your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), not your reduced benefit amount. However, if you file at 62, her maximum spousal benefit would be 50% of your PIA, not 50% of what you actually receive. The bigger consideration is survivor benefits. If you pass away before her, she would be eligible for survivor benefits, and those ARE affected by your early claiming. If you claim at 62 (a 30% reduction from your FRA benefit), her survivor benefit would also be reduced accordingly. As for when she can claim spousal benefits - she can claim as early as 62, but they'll be reduced for early filing on HER part, separate from your reduction.

Wait I'm confused... So does his wife GET MORE or LESS if he files early??? My husband is also older than me (7 years) and he wants to file at 62 too but I told him to wait because I thought it would hurt MY benefits!!! Now I'm not sure what to think!!!! Someone plz explain in SIMPLE terms!!

I went through this exact thing with my wife. I'm 6 yrs older too. One thing nobody mentioned - if you're still working when you claim at 62, you'll be subject to the earnings test. SSA will deduct $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above $22,320 (in 2025). Your benefits will be recalculated at your FRA to account for these deductions, but something to consider if you plan to keep working.

Something else to consider - if your wife's work history is spotty as you mentioned, waiting until YOUR full retirement age would maximize her spousal benefit potential. While her spousal benefit isn't directly reduced by your early filing, waiting until your FRA ensures you're getting 100% of your PIA, which establishes the baseline for her 50% spousal benefit. Also, have you tried calling SSA to get a personalized analysis? I spent 3 days trying to get through to someone at SSA to discuss my similar situation and kept hitting busy signals or getting disconnected. Finally I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA rep in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. The SSA rep gave me a complete breakdown of different filing scenarios for me and my wife, which was super helpful for making our decision.

quick question - how much did your wife work? if she has 40 credits (10 yrs) she gets her own benefit. my wife worked 9 years and is stuck with just the spousal benefit which is way less than if she had that 1 more year!

I think everyone is overcomplicating this. My husband filed at 62 and I filed for spousal at 62 when I was eligible and it worked out fine. Everyone's situation is different. The reduced survivor benefit is the only real concern here but who knows if that will even be relevant. You can't predict the future!

One strategy to consider: If your financial situation allows, you could file at 62 but then suspend your benefits when you reach your Full Retirement Age. This would allow your benefit amount to grow through delayed retirement credits until age 70. Meanwhile, during the suspension period, your wife couldn't receive spousal benefits, but this approach could maximize her survivor benefits if you pass away first (which statistically is more likely). The math can get complicated, but generally speaking, if you have reason to believe one of you will live well into your 80s or beyond, maximizing the higher earner's benefit often makes financial sense for the couple's total lifetime benefits.

To clarify about file and suspend: The "file and suspend" strategy that allowed spouses to claim on a suspended record was eliminated in 2016. However, you can still file for benefits and then later request to suspend them to earn delayed retirement credits. The difference is that NO ONE can receive benefits on your record while your benefits are suspended. Regarding the original question - one more consideration is that if your wife works until her own Full Retirement Age, she can choose to take either her own retirement benefit or the spousal benefit, whichever is higher. If she files before her FRA, she doesn't get this choice - she's deemed to have filed for both and gets essentially the higher amount.