I am currently 62 born in Dec 1953 my wife is 61 born March 1955. I have always worked most of our married life part time raising kids and taking care of our parents. If I were to collect today I would receive about $1000 a month. My wife will receive about $3000 at 66. Am I eligible today to file for 1/2 of her spousal benefit or do I need to wait until she retires and starts to collect. Also if I collect my $1000 today can I bump up to 1/2 when she files? Thank You

Hi,

You can't receive spousal benefits on your wife's account until she applies and starts drawing benefits. You could file for reduced benefits on your own account now, but the reduction you would take in your benefit rate would continue for as long as both you and your wife are living. You could potentially still receive an excess spousal benefit from your wife's account when she files later, but you would keep the reduction you took on your own account.

For example, say your full retirement age benefit amount (PIA) would be $1250, but you start drawing now and receive a reduced rate of $1000. If your wife's PIA is $3000 and she starts drawing her benefit when you are age 66 or older, you could then get an excess spousal benefit. The amount in this example would be $250, which is the difference between 50% of her PIA and your own PIA (i.e. $3000/2 - $1250). This excess $250 would then be added to your reduced benefit of $1000, making your total monthly rate $1250.

By the way, $3000 is higher than the current maximum PIA of $2687, so the above example may be a bit overly optimistic. You may want to consider running the maximization software available on this website before making any final decisions. The software will analyze all of your and your wife's filing options, and help you determine the best filing strategy.

Best, Jerry