Spouse Applying for SS – Married to Teacher
My husband and I are retired and both receive IL pensions. He turns 62 shortly, has been retired for 4 years, and is adamant about applying for his social security ASAP. I am not sure I agree. I am 58, retired for 17 months, and a former IL special ed teacher. I have been told getting advice from the SSA office is not always the best and the advice is not always consistent/accurate depending on who you talk to. I have heard that there are options we should seriously consider when he makes his application relating to me being a teacher who has never had social security monies taken out of my paychecks. My future social security money projections are about $250/monthly and my husband is projected to get @ $2100/month.
Should he apply now or wait? What should he consider when applying having a spouse as a teacher?
Thank you for advice. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Terry Says
This is a complex situation. Yes, your SS benefits will be reduced by the “WEP”. But I’m not sure about his, depending on his job and whether he paid into SS.
I’m reasonably sure that you BOTH should wait to your full retirement age to collect. Why reduce your already-reduced benefit.
But the best strategy beyond that is complex. I highly recommend you use the calculator at
www.MaximizeMySocialSecurity.com
For $39 you’ll get an authoritative answer on how to best proceed.
