1. my dad started SS benifits at 65, i think it was earlier than the full retirement age. So the monney was reduced slightly.
2. when the spouse reache the retirment age (62 and half for my mom as early retirement), they check if the couple can prove they have been married more than 10 years (does not matter if they are divorced or not). And compare 1/2 of my dad's SS income with my mom's own SS income, you get to pick the higher one.
3. Most people purchase medicare after they start SS benifits. If they are low income, there's ways to apply for that fee to be waived. but it's hard to qualify, my parents does not have much income, but they do have some investement. To get free medicare they have to have very little money (different for each state, it's around 6k in all bank/investment). My parents does not qualify and medicare eat up a good chunk of the SS income.
