If my wife took spousal benefits at 62 is she eligible to take her benefits at 70 since she was born before 1954?

Hi,

Technically the answer to your question is yes. However, the only way that your wife could have filed for spousal benefits at age 62 without also being required to apply for her own benefits at the same time is if she either didn't have enough work credits to be eligible for benefits on her own account, or if she had a child in her care who's a) eligible for child's benefits on your account and b) under age 16 or disabled. And, if your wife didn't have sufficient work credits to qualify for her own benefits at age 62, then she couldn't later qualify for benefits on her own account unless and until she earned enough credits to give her a total of at least 40 quarters of coverage (QC).

Unless a person has an eligible child in their care, if they file for spousal benefits prior to their full retirement age (FRA) they are deemed to be filing for their own Social Security retirement benefits at the same time. That's true whether or not they were born prior to 1954. So, if your wife had at least 40 QCs on her own work record and she applied for reduced spousal benefits prior to FRA, she couldn't collect just spousal benefits and wait until later to apply for her own benefits. But, if your wife qualified for unreduced child in care spousal benefits, she could potentially collect those benefits while allowing her own benefit rate to grow until age 70.

Best, Jerry