dont 4get that if u get benefits reduced cuz of working, they recalculate ur benefit when u hit FRA and give u credit for those months. so its not completely lost money, just delayed

As someone new to this community, I want to thank everyone for sharing such detailed experiences! This thread has been incredibly helpful. I'm in a similar situation planning retirement next year and had no idea about the "grace year" rule or how specific you need to be about your first month of entitlement. One question I have after reading all this - when you apply online through SSA.gov, does it clearly ask you to specify your first month of entitlement? Or is this something you need to call about? I'm worried about making the same mistakes some of you mentioned where SSA starts benefits earlier than intended. Also, has anyone tried the retroactive benefits option where they can pay you up to 6 months back? I'm wondering if that creates earnings test complications too.

One more thing to consider - some offices are better staffed than others for specific issues. For example, if you have a complicated work history involving foreign employment or military service, you might want to visit a larger office that handles these cases more frequently. But for standard retirement applications, any office can help you equally well.

Just to add another perspective - I work part-time at a local government office and we get this question a lot! You absolutely can visit any SSA office nationwide. The main thing I'd suggest is checking the office hours and services offered at your preferred location beforehand, since some smaller offices have limited hours or don't offer all services every day. Also, if you're bringing a lot of documents, consider making copies beforehand since some offices charge more for copying than others. Good luck with your retirement application!

heres something nobody mentioned - if ur mom and dad get divorced in future she could lose these benefits!! unless they stay married for at least 10 yrs then she can keep them even after divorce. but if theyre already been separated for decades sounds like theyve passed that 10 yr mark anyway so should be ok

I went through this exact process with my grandmother last year! A few practical tips that might help your mom: 1. Call SSA early in the morning (8 AM sharp) for the best chance of getting through - the phone lines are slightly less busy then. 2. When she applies, ask the representative to calculate her exact benefit amount on the spot. They can run the numbers immediately and tell her what to expect. 3. The effective date will be the month she applies (not retroactive beyond 6 months), so don't delay! 4. If the SSA office requires an appointment, some locations accept walk-ins for "quick questions" - she could try calling to ask if they'll at least let her submit the application paperwork without a full appointment. 5. Keep copies of everything she submits. The SSA sometimes loses paperwork. Even a modest increase would help her situation. The most important thing is getting the process started. Good luck to your mom!

Thanks for this thoughtful advice. I think I'll create that spreadsheet to visualize the scenarios better. The quality of life considerations are important too - I don't love my job but don't hate it either. I think I'm leaning toward a middle path, maybe claiming around 65. That gives me some early retirement years but doesn't reduce the benefit quite as drastically as claiming at 62.

I'm glad this discussion has been so helpful! As someone who just went through this exact decision process last year, I wanted to add one more perspective. I ended up creating what I called a "regret minimization" framework instead of just focusing on break-even math. I asked myself: "Which choice would I regret LEAST if things don't go as planned?" For me, that was waiting until 66 (one year before my FRA). Here's why: if I live a long life, I'm not leaving too much on the table compared to waiting until 67. But if something happens to me earlier, I still got several years of benefits I wouldn't have had by waiting the full time. It felt like the sweet spot between the two extremes. The peace of mind from having that guaranteed monthly income bump was worth more to me than the mathematical optimization. Sometimes the "good enough" decision that you can sleep well with is better than the theoretically perfect one that keeps you up at night worrying!

I called SSA this morning and finally got through after trying for days! The agent explained that my benefit is actually a combination of my own small retirement benefit plus a spousal supplement that brings the total to $1,200. The math works out exactly as you all explained! She said my own benefit at 62 was calculated at $320 (reduced from my PIA of about $500), and then they added a reduced spousal supplement of $880 to reach $1,200 total. The full spousal benefit would have been around $1,950 if I'd waited until my FRA. I'm kicking myself a bit for not waiting, but at the time we really needed the income. At least now I understand how they calculated it. Thank you all so much for your help!

Has anyone noticed that the SSA calculators online are TERRIBLE at explaining spousal benefits? They focus almost entirely on retirement benefits based on your own record. Their website barely mentions that spousal benefits don't increase past FRA! I spent HOURS researching this when helping my mother with her benefits. The most important details are buried in footnotes or completely missing!