Dob 10/1952 wife dob 10/1957 She is 62 and me 67 as of october. I have been collecting for 1 year. Getting about 2800/m. She can start collecting this month and will get about 1700. My questions: can i and should i suspend my benefits until 70? and should my wife start collecting and can i get spousal benefit once she starts?

I still work and earn about 70 per hour. she is a real estate agent and the income is not necessarily stable.. We do need to extra income to clean up some stuff over thr next 2-3 years.

Hi,

Your wife can file for her benefits, but even if she does so you couldn't suspend your benefits and draw spousal benefits instead. You could suspend your benefits in order to accrue delayed retirement credits (DRC) until age 70, but even if you did so you couldn't qualify for spousal benefits unless your own primary insurance amount (PIA) is less than 50% of your wife's PIA, which it obviously isn't according to your figures.

If you hadn't filed for your own benefits, or if you withdrew your application and repaid the benefits you've received, you could potentially file just for spousal benefits if your wife files for her benefits. You would only be allowed to withdraw your application if you started drawing no more than 12 months ago, though (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/withdrawal.html). And, if your wife files for her benefits and you withdraw your application and apply for spousal benefits instead, both your wife's benefits and your spousal benefits could be subject to full or partial withholding until your wife reaches full retirement age (FRA) depending on her earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/rtea.html).

If your wife files for and receives benefits prior to FRA she'll be stuck with a reduced benefit rate for as long as both of you are living. Your wife should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to compare her options so that she can choose the filing strategy that best fits your long term goals.

Best, Jerry