Q: I am 60 years old and still working. I was married for 16 years to my first husband before we divorced many years ago. He is 64 years old, has remarried and is not yet retired. I also remarried. Husband No. 2 is six years younger than me. We have been married 15 years, but have been legally separated since 2007. Could you please explain all of my Social Security options? Specifically, I'd like to know if I should file for Social Security at 62 or 66. Also, I want to know if there would be any advantage for me to stay married to my second husband.

A: Let me begin by putting on my compassionate advice columnist hat and tell you that you and your second husband should talk things through to do all you can to get back together and make this marriage work.

Now let me put on my pragmatic Social Security columnist hat and tell you that you should call the divorce lawyers tomorrow and dump husband No. 2 like yesterday's garbage!

From a Social Security perspective, there is no reason for you to remain married to husband No. 2. In fact, there would be a couple of potential advantages to divorcing him.

Advantage No. 1: A divorced woman can receive dependent wife's benefits on her ex's Social Security record even if he isn't receiving anything himself. He has to be old enough (i.e., at least 62) to be eligible for Social Security, but he does not need to have actually filed for benefits. On the other hand, a married (or separated) woman cannot receive Social Security spousal benefits unless the husband is drawing them himself.

Advantage No. 2: As long as you're legally married to husband No. 2, you can't get any of your first husband's Social Security. So by divorcing No. 2, you open up the option of collecting Social Security from No. 1.

So here's a quick rundown of your Social Security options -- assuming you get the divorce.

YOUR OWN SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS

It is your call whether you start your Social Security at 62 or your full retirement age of 66. You might have noticed in past columns that I tend to advise people to take reduced Social Security retirement at 62 while they're still young and healthy enough to enjoy life. But any good actuary would tell you that you're financially ahead to wait until age 66 to get your full benefits. If you're in good health and like your job, you should listen to the actuaries, not me.

At whatever age you start your benefits, the Social Security Administration will pay your own Social Security first. Then they look to your husbands' records to see if you can get any extra benefits from their accounts. Continued...