My wife and I are both 66 years old (FRA) and born prior to 1/2/1954. I plan to continue working full time until 70. My wife worked part time for most of her career, so she qualified for social security but at less than the maximum per year. Given our circumstances, we thought my wife could file a restricted application for spousal benefits and still allow her retirement benefits to grow until age 70. However, the SS office said my wife cannot get spouse's benefits until I file for retirement benefits. Is that accurate? What would you suggest? (and thanks for your response!)

Hi,

Yes, what Social Security told you is accurate. Your wife could not collect spousal benefits at least until you start drawing your Social Security retirement benefits.

The best filing strategy for you and your wife depends in large part on your comparative benefit rates. You should probably at least consider having one of you file for Social Security retirement benefits so that the other of you can file for spousal benefits while allowing their own benefit rate to grow until age 70. If your wife's retirement benefit rate is lower than yours it would probably be better for her to claim retirement benefits while you claim spousal benefits, but you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to compare all of your options in order to make sure that you choose the best possible strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry