Hello, I purchased your first book back in march 2015 and I have been following along with the changes to the filing strategies. My wife will turn 62 on September 28 2016 and i will turn 66 on October 8th 2016. On Friday July 15th we went to the social security office and she filed for benefits. Then the clerk asked if I wanted to file too because my birthday was coming up soon . I told her that I would want to file a restricted application for spousal benefits only. She then told me that I couldn't do that. Then I thought "Here we go". She then went on to talk about April 30th and suspending . I told her that I wasn't talking about suspending , and that i wanted to RESTRICT my application . She then went back to speak to someone and came back shortly and said that I could do this. I declined because I wanted to make sure that my wife had at least filed before I filed. She said it would not matter if we filed on the same calendar date because her application would be processed first. I still declined because I was not convinced of this and I wanted to make sure that I could make the right statement in the remarks section of the application. Now should I insist that I file on form ssa-2-BK ? Also would it have been alright to file on the same date as my wife? Anyway, do I have to wait until she is actually collecting or is it fine that her application just predates mine ? Our birth dates are so close. As you can see I am trying to get the exact mechanics correct so that I can avoid problems .Next question: Can we cancel an application if social security doesn't cooperate? Your insight and help will be appreciated. Thank You, Tom

Hi Tom,

It would have been fine to file at the same time your wife did. You just need to be sure that your month of entitlement to spousal benefits isn't before the month you reach age 66, unless you happen to have been born on the 1st day of a month, in which case you could start effective with the month prior to your birthday.

If you file in person or by phone, an SSA rep will complete the application for you. Just be sure to tell them that you want to restrict your application to spousal benefits only. When you review your application, make sure it contains a remark such as: 'I wish to restrict the scope of this application to spousal benefits only.', or 'I wish to restrict retirement benefits on my own account from the scope of this application.' If you file online, you should enter one of the above remarks yourself.

You can't cancel an application, but you can formally withdraw it as long as you do so within one year of your date of entitlement, and you pay back any benefits that you've already been paid.

Best, Jerry