Question: I am 60 and my husband is 56. Does it make more sense for me to begin collecting at 62 instead of waiting until I am 66? I figured I could be collecting for eight years because when I turn 70, he will be 66 and at that time I can collect 1/2 of his which is much more than mine would be at my full retirement age. My math shows it is beneficial but I would like your advice. Also, if I did collect at 62, what is the maximum I can make at my job to continue working?

Answer: So, heres what David Cechanowicz, a senior financial planner with REDW Stanley Financial Advisors, had to say:

The question of when and how to file for Social Security benefits is linked to a host of issues that are unique to each claimant. In your question you gave me a slight glimpse of some of the data, but not enough to give you a definitive answer.

To set the stage, all of the following can have a significant impact on the retirement claiming question.

Health The issue of health and longevity is foundational to answering the question of when should I claim my Social Security retirement benefits. Closely linked are questions that focus on the state of your personal finances, your willingness and or ability to work, and the amount of other assets or sources of income that you might have to supplement your income in retirement. Also, the amount of your own retirement benefit, and the amount of possible spousal and or retirement benefits that you may be entitled to factor into the equation.

Assuming that you were born in 1957, your full retirement age is 66 and 6 months, and your husbands full retirement age is 67. For both of you, claiming early will represent a significant reduction in benefits from those available at full retirement age, or afterword, for those who can wait for delayed retirement credits.

From what you have told us, you will reach your own full retirement age during the year that your husband turns 62. At that time, if he has filed for benefits, you will be eligible for 50% of his primary insurance amount, or the benefit that he will collect when he turns age 67. It is important to note that you will be eligible for half of his full retirement benefit, even if he claims his benefits at age 62. That is because you will have reached your own full retirement benefit at that time. However, if he waits to claim his benefits at his full retirement age, you will not be able to claim a spousal benefit on his work record.

A financial planner that I reached out to suggests that your instinct about claiming early is probably going to be your best choice. Since your husbands earliest retirement age coincides with your own full retirement age, and if you dont run into the earnings test, then you will probably be best off claiming early, especially if he claims early as well.

The earnings test that you asked about is indexed for inflation and will be higher than the number for 2017. For this year, for every two dollars that you earn over $16,920 would require you to give back one dollar of Social Security benefits. Sometimes it will still make sense to be subject to the earnings test for individuals who end up giving back only a small part of their Social Security benefit.

For example, assume a retirement benefit in 2017 of $600 a month and a worker who is between the ages of age 62 and 65. (In other words, working in other than the year that he or she reaches full retirement age. In that year the exempt amount rises to $44,880. Additionally, a worker gives up one dollar of Social Security for every three dollars of income above the exempt amount.) In that case, you could work for the entire year and earn $23,000, and end up still getting Social Security checks for the last six months of the year of approximately $600 a month.

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Collect Social Security at 62 and spousal at full retirement age? - MarketWatch