Hi Larry, my wife and I were born after the January 2, 1954 time line. My wife will be turning 62 in 11 months. I am the primary breadwinner and intend to wait until 70 to collect my highest benefit. I have been told that if my wife collects at 62 she will be unable to get the 50% of mine at a later date. Is this true? Your column indicates she could get the higher amount but my financial advisor doesn’t think so. I would love to have that cash flow for 8 years as we are the same age. Thanks Larry!

Hi,

Yes, that's true. If your wife starts drawing her benefits prior to her full retirement age (FRA), she'll retain any reduction for age that's applied to her benefit rate for as long as both of you are living, even if she later qualifies for additional spousal benefits.

For example, say Molly files for her own benefits at age 62. Molly's FRA rate or primary insurance amount (PIA) is $1000, but she receives a reduced rate of $750 in return for starting her benefits early. Eight years later, Molly's husband files for his benefits with a PIA of $2400. Molly's spousal benefit would then be $200, or 50% of her husband's PIA minus Molly's own PIA (i.e. $2400/2 - $1000), which would be unreduced since Molly has already reached FRA when she becomes eligible for spousal benefits. Molly's excess spousal rate would then be paid in addition to her reduced retirement benefit to give her a combined benefit amount of $950. In other words, rather than getting a full 50% of her husband's PIA Molly would get $250 less than that amount because she started drawing her own benefits at age 62.

You and your wife may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to explore and compare all of your various options in order to determine your best overall strategy for claiming your benefits.

Best, Jerry