I would like to know how and if I can filed for social security benefits under my wife's social security which she has been getting for several years already my wife is 66 and I will be 68 this feburary I receive a pension but according to my social security statement i'm entitled to $326 a month my wife gets $450 a month. I want to filed this feburary to start getting my payments. can I take her's amount or not. if so how do I do that

Hi,

If you haven't already filed for your own Social Security retirement benefits, then yes it sounds like you could potentially file for just spousal benefits only and allow your own benefits to grow until age 70. However, if the pension you're receiving is some type of government pension based on your work that was exempt from Social Security taxes, then your spousal benefits could be subject to full or partial offset due to the Government Pension Offset Provision (GPO). For more information on GPO, refer to this Social Security publication: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf.

If you are eligible to file for spousal benefits, you could either file online (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10523.pdf) or by phone or in person at a Social Security office. In order to restrict your online application to spousal benefits only, you would answer 'yes' to the question that asks "If you are eligible for both retirement benefits and spouse's benefits, do you wish to delay receipt of retirement benefits".

Before filing, you may want to use the maximization software available on this website to make sure that you choose the best possible filing strategy.

Best, Jerry