I am born on 2/14/1951 and my wife on 5/19/1954. My income is much greater than hers. She can start collecting her SS benefits in January 2018 (she will have the required 40 credits by the end of 2017). She will be getting minimum benefits but that is better than nothing. I plan to work at least until I am 70. From reading your book I understand that I can request spousal benefits without risking being deemed to get my own. However, I could not figure out if my wife can request spousal benefits later when I file for benefits at 70. So, the question is can a spouse file for her own benefits (the husband has not filed for his own benefits at this time) and later file for spousal benefits when her husband files for his own benefits?

Hi,

Yes, your wife could file for retirement benefits on her own record as soon as she's eligible and later file for an additional spousal benefit when you file.

For example, say Jill files for her retirement benefits at age 64. Jill's full retirement age benefit (PIA) is $500, but her reduced rate at age 64 is $433. When Jane is age 67, her husband files for his retirement benefits with a PIA of $2000. Jill would be eligible for an additional spousal benefit of $500 (i.e. 50% of her husband's PIA minus her own PIA, or $2000/2 - $500), which would be added to her own reduced retirement benefit of $433 for a combined rate of $933.

By the way, if your wife will earn her 40th quarter of coverage in the last quarter of 2017, she could be eligible for reduced retirement benefits as early as October 2017. Whenever she starts drawing, you could potentially file for spousal benefits only on her record while letting your own rate grow until age 70. You should strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website to determine the best filing strategy for you and your wife.

Best, Jerry