Dear Larry,

Husband is 68, I am 65 and will turn 66 on January 24, 2019. We did, BARELY make it under File and Suspend on his SS at age 66. How soon can I file for half spousal benefits prior to turning 66? And, should we do this in person at SS office? Any other words of wisdom I should know before pulling trigger on this? Is there any other way to maximize our benefits? Thanks! We bought your book...that's how we were successful with File and Suspend! Thanks so much.

Hi,

So, I'm assuming that your husband filed for and suspended his benefits prior to the April 30 2016 deadline established in the 2015 Social Security amendments (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/suspendfaq.html). That would mean that since you were born prior to January 2 1954 you have the option of drawing just spousal benefits only starting with the month you reach your full retirement age (FRA) of 66 while allowing your own benefit rate to grow until age 70.

If that's your plan, then in your case you can file your restricted application for only spousal benefits as early as September 2018, but you can't claim just spousal benefits only starting with any month prior to January 2019. You would then need to file a separate application when you want to establish entitlement to retirement benefits on your own record, presumably at age 70 assuming that your retirement rate will be higher than your spousal benefit rate at that time.

Although it sounds like what I've described above would likely be best based on the limited information in your question, you may want to strongly consider using our maximization software to confirm that this is in fact your best strategy.

Best, Jerry