My wife is 3 months older than I am. We are both 65 retired, and NOT collecting SS. At age 66 her benefit is approx $950. When I turn 66, my benefit will be approx. $2250. Is she able to wait until I turn 66, claim her spousal benefit of around $1200, and let her personal benefit grow until age 70 and then drop her spousal benefit and then collect her own benefit?

Hi,

The answer is yes, but she can't begin receiving spousal benefits until you start drawing your benefits. Also, the spousal amount she'd receive would be around $1125 if your full retirement age rate is $2250.

As an alternate strategy, your wife could file on her account at age 66, and you could file for spousal benefits only on her account when you reach age 66. Then, when you turn age 70, you could switch to your own account and your wife could get excess spousal benefits on your record. Your benefit rate would be 32% higher if you wait until age 70, or around $2970 if your full retirement age rate is $2250. This could be important if you die before your wife, because the surviving member of a couple generally receives the higher of their 2 benefits.

By the way, this filing strategy is still available to you because you were born prior to January 2 1954. The new rules on deeming of applications apply only to people born on January 2 1954 or later (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/deemedfaq.html). You may wish to run the maximization software available on this website in order to determine which filing strategy is likely best for you and your wife.

Best, Jerry