Sir, your SS books have been most helpful to me. I have a question now if I may presume upon your expertise. I had thought that due to the Law changes we did not qualify for “File and Suspend”. However, in a recent September Kiplinger Magazine, they had a short Q/A that made me question my original assumptions on how I read your books and other information.

Specifically in our case: My wife was born 23 December 1953. She does not have sufficient work history for her own SS account. I was born 10 March 1955. When I reach full retirement age at 66 & 3 months or so, based on her birthday, may I still be able to file and suspend, and have her draw her “1/2” spouse benefit until I commence my withdrawals at age 70?

Thanks once again for any help or direction into the SS regulations. V/R Larry

Hi Larry,

You could file for and suspend your Social Security retirement benefits when you reach your full retirement age (FRA) of 66 & 2 months (i.e. May 2021), however, your wife could NOT be paid spousal benefits for as long as your benefits are suspended. Refer to the 'Voluntary Suspension Of Benefits' section of the following Social Security publication for further explanation: https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/claiming.html?intcmp=AE-RET-PLRT-REL....

You should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully explore all of your options for maximizing benefits for you and your wife.

Best, Jerry