Will working 6 months past FRA affect Social Security benefits when spouse already collects?

Working past FRA is actually beneficial in several ways! Your husband won't face any earnings limit penalty since he's at FRA, and his benefit amount will continue to grow by 8% per year (or 2/3% per month) until age 70. This is called Delayed Retirement Credits. As for your questions: 1. No drawbacks at all - only benefits. He'll get a higher monthly payment when he does claim. 2. Your benefits won't be affected by his continued work or his decision to delay. 3. Tax filing status usually doesn't change just because of SS benefits. For most couples, filing jointly still provides better tax treatment overall. The only time separate filing might help is if your combined income puts more of your SS benefits into the taxable range.

we did something similar last year. husband worked 8 months past FRA and we got a nice bump in his monthly check when he finally applied. no need to tell ssa anything until he's ready to apply. don't overthink it!

I think ur making a HUGE mistake not taking benefits right away!!! Social Security is going BANKRUPT and they keep changing the rules all the time. Take the money NOW while you can still get it!!! My neighbor waited and then got sick and barely got anything before he passed. Don't risk it!!!

We were in almost this exact situation last year! For your tax question - we ended up still filing jointly and it worked out better. I calculated both ways and joint filing saved us about $1,240 compared to married filing separately. The reason is that filing separately has several disadvantages: lower standard deduction per person, higher tax brackets, and you lose some tax credits. One thing to consider though: if your combined income (AGI + nontaxable interest + half of SS benefits) exceeds $44,000, up to 85% of your Social Security could be taxable when filing jointly. But even then, filing separately rarely helps because the threshold for married filing separately is only $0 - meaning potentially 85% of benefits are taxable regardless. Best approach: run your taxes both ways before deciding, but joint filing is usually better.

Something nobody has mentioned: your husband working longer also increases his lifetime earnings record, which could potentially increase his benefit amount when he does apply. SS calculates benefits based on your highest 35 years of earnings, so if these additional months will replace a lower-earning year in his history, that's another small boost. Regarding taxes, I'll add that if you file separately, you BOTH must either take the standard deduction or BOTH itemize. You can't mix and match. Usually makes separate filing even less attractive.

Has anyone else been trying to call Social Security to ask questions like this? I've been trying for THREE DAYS and can't get through to a human!!! Keep getting disconnected or waiting for hours! How is anyone supposed to get answers???

just wanted to say congrats on doing your own taxes! my wife and I tried to do ours one year and it was a disaster lol. ended up hiring someone after we realized we messed up big time.

I dont know why people are telling you to delay benefits. My sister and her husband waited and now regret it. They could have traveled more when they were younger and healthier. Money now is worth more than money later! TAKE IT NOW and enjoy life while you can!!!

quick question - does your husband have any pensions from government jobs? if yes make sure you look into WEP and GPO rules those can really mess up your SS benefits