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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am not the Op, but I have a question.

As the high earner, I plan to retire (and work part time?) at 60 but not collect until 70.  My spouse has a much lower income, so we rethinking to have her collect at 62.

When I start collecting at 70, her amount should increase thanks to the spousal support feature.

I have a pension and sizable retirement savings so we plan to ride that down an bit until I hit 70.  We think this might be the most tax efficient way to also maximize SS income.

Any thoughts or recommendations?
[/quote]

Your spouse can collect SS based on their own earnings at 62 and later switch to spousal (50% of your benefit I think) once you start collecting. Spousal only works if the high earner spouse is also collecting.

There are websites that can advice you on the best time to collect SS as a family based on each of your stats (can't recall any names. Google). Make sure they consider time value of money. Just because the number is high at 70 does not mean your benefits are maximized. I built a spreadsheet and did that for my situation and in most cases (assuming different 'death' points), starting SS at 65/66 seemed the most optimal once adjusted for time value of money.

There's also a software called Maxifi by Larry Kotlikoff, a NYU professor, that covers optimizing SS withdrawals. I've heard good things about it but no personal experience.
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