I recently finished reading your book :Get What's Yours". I am married, my wife is 58 and I am 50. My wife plans to retire in 5 years at 63 and I plan to retire in 15 years at 65. I make about 50-75% more than my wife. It sounds like our best option to get what's ours for claiming social security is to wait until we are both 70 before we start collecting. Are there any other options you would recommend?

Hi. It sounds like the best filing strategy for you and your wife depends largely on how your primary insurance amounts (PIA) compare. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

If your wife's PIA is significantly more than 50% of your PIA, then it may well be a good plan for both of you wait until age 70 to start drawing your respective benefits. But, if your wife's PIA is less than 50% of your PIA, then she should probably start drawing her benefits no later than when she reaches her FRA of 67. She could then file for an additional excess spousal benefit when you start drawing your benefits.

However, the best overall filing strategy for you and your wife depends on numerous different factors, so you may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare and analyze all of your various options so that you can determine your optimal strategy for maximizing benefits.

Best, Jerry