Hi Larry,

I am 61. I will not turn on my SS Benefit until age 70. Will my wife get 50% of the amount I receive at 70, or only an amount equal to 50% of my FRA amount, which would be about 24% lower. Thanks Larry and your team for your clarification.

Jeff

Dear Jeff,

Your wife's full spousal benefit is half of your full retirement benefit, not your age-70 benefit. But she may not collect a full spousal benefit. Under the new law if she wasn't 62 before January 2, 2016, she will be forced to take her own retirement benefit when she files for her spousal benefit. In this case, she will receive her excess spousal benefit, not her full spousal benefit. Her excess spousal benefit is the difference between half of your full retirement benefit less 100 percent of her full retirement benefit augmented by any delayed retirement credits. If your wife's excess spousal benefit is positive it may not be optimal for you to wait till 70 to collect your own retirement benefit as she won't be able to start collecting her excess spousal benefit until you start taking your own retirement benefit.

Please run our software. This may be the biggest financial decision of your retirement and our $40 program will tell you exactly what's optimal.

My best, Larry