I plan to claim social security at 70 (mostly to preserve survivor benefits), so this question is about the rules governing claiming strategies for my wife. She was born in 1959 and I was born in 1960, so we are currently 58 and 57. Her own benefit will be modest as she was primarily a homemaker, but she does have a number of years of part time employment. Do I correctly understand that she can claim her own benefit (either early or at FRA), and then have it increase to 50% of my benefit (which will be higher) when I finally claim? Also, am I correct in my understanding that I have to file for benefits before she can claim a spousal benefit?

Hi,

Not exactly. Your wife could claim benefits on her own record when she's eligible and then file for additional spousal benefits on your record when you file, but her combined benefit rate would be reduced if she starts drawing her benefits prior to her full retirement age (FRA). And yes, you must file for your benefits in order for your wife to potentially qualify for spousal benefits.

For example, say Jane files for her retirement benefits at age 62. Jane's full retirement age rate (PIA) is $500, but she receives a reduced rate of $355 for starting benefits at age 62. Jane's husband files for his benefits 9 years later and his PIA is $2000. Jane's spousal benefit rate would then be determined by subtracting her own PIA from 50% of her husband's PIA, which would amount to $500 in this example (i.e. $2000/2 - $500). That amount would then be added to Jane's reduced retirement benefit rate of $355 to give her a combined rate of $855.

In the above example, if Jane had waited until FRA to file for her own benefits then her combined rate would have increased to a full half of her husband's PIA when she later became entitled to spousal benefits (i.e. $500 + $500 = $1000).

Before filing for benefits, you and your wife may want to consider using our maximization software in order to fully explore and compare your various filing options.

Best, Jerry