ASK RUSTY (cont.)

27% and your husband’s by about 22% (based upon your respective years of birth). Further, if you claim before your full retirement ages and continue to work, you’ll be subject to Social Security’s earnings test, which limits the amount you can earn before they take back some of your benefits (the 2022 earnings limit is $18,240; if you exceed that they’ll take back half of anything you earn over the limit). The earnings limit changes annually but goes away at your FRA.

At your full retirement ages, you’ll be entitled to 100% of the benefits you’ve earned from your lifetime of working (approximately the amounts estimated now). If you can and do wait beyond your full retirement age (FRA), for each month you delay you’ll earn delayed retirement credits of 2/3 of 1% per month of delay (8% per year of delay), up to age 70 when your maximum benefit is reached. As a point of information, if you wait until your full retirement age to claim, you will have collected the same amount of money at age 78 as if you had claimed at age 62; and if you wait until age 70 to claim you’ll have collected the same amount of money at age 82 as if you had collected at your full retirement age. If you live at least until “average” longevity, you’ll collect more in cumulative Social Security benefits by waiting. So, when should you claim? If you’re still working and earning “professional salaries”, then waiting at least until your full retirement age would be a wise choice. If you expect at least average longevity and don’t need the money right away, waiting until age 70 would be a prudent strategy. But if you don’t work and expect less than average longevity, then claiming at any time you need the money would be a reasonable decision. This is a choice only each of you can make.

This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance.

It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (amacfoundation.org/programs/

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