Hi Larry: I was born in Sept. 1955 and my wife was born in 1952. I am a 100% disabled veteran and was DENIED after two years of working with an attorney to be approved for SS Disability. During this time my lawyer, who was confident that we would be approved, said I should start drawing on my regular SS at a reduced rate., which I did, under his advice. I started drawing my reduced benefit in Sept. 2018. . . Am I able to suspend and draw on my wife's social security, she began her benefits a full age. Or if not, what are my options to suspend or withdraw my benefits and wait until my full age of 66 +2 months or possibly 70 years of age? I am not going to re-apply for disability even though my lawyer said he would be happy to start a new case for me. Thank you in Advance.. Charles

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Hi Charles,

No, you couldn't suspend your own Social Security retirement benefits and draw spousal benefits instead. Since you were born after January 1 1954, even if you hadn't already filed for your retirement benefits if you filed for spousal benefits you'd be deemed to also be filing for your own retirement benefits. The only way that you could qualify for any spousal benefits is if your wife's primary insurance amount (PIA) is more than twice as much as your PIA. A person's PIA is the amount they're paid if they start drawing their retirement benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

Since you apparently started drawing your retirement benefits less than 12 months ago you could withdraw your claim and reapply later. However, you would first be required to repay all of the benefits that you've already received. Or, you could suspend your benefits starting at FRA in order to earn delayed retirement credits (DRC) and then resume them at a higher rate at age 70, but you'd still be stuck with the percentage reduction that you took for starting your benefits prior to FRA. You aren't allowed to voluntarily suspend your benefits prior to FRA. You may want to consider using our software to more fully explore your options so that you can decide which strategy would likely work out best in your case.

Best, Jerry