Dear Larry,
I can take my SS at FRA (66) next month but am curious about whether there's any truth to waiting until I am 66 and 9 months to avoid a "rat hole." Are these rat holes, if real, relevant for married people? I am married and my husband was born in 1953. He's still working and delaying SS until age 70 but can take a spousal benefit if I file. My SS on my own record is about $200 higher than if I take a spousal benefit on his record. I just want to make sure I should go ahead and not wait 9 months.Thank you!!

Hi,

I have no idea what you mean by a 'rat hole', nor is there anything particularly significant about age 66 & 9 months in terms of Social Security's rules. It sounds to me like you may want to at least consider claiming your benefits soon in order to permit your spouse to file a restricted claim for spousal benefits. Whether or not that would be your best strategy depends on a number of different factors, though, so you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/puchase) to fully explore all of your various options so that you can choose the strategy that would be most likely to maximize your and your husband's benefits in the long term.

Best, Jerry