My wife retired at 66, I am 65, applied for Medicare a. Social security rep who took my application told me that if I did not retire at 66 I could collect spousal benefits on my retired wife's account because she waited until full retirement age of 66 and I could still continue to work. It was my understanding that such a technique for maximizing benefits was discontinued for all people born in 1954 and after. Does your software help with this? Is the representative correct? I would certainly have a higher final retirement amount if I wait to 67 or 68. If I can collect spousal benefits while working til 67 or 68 it would be much easier in a financial sense.

Hi,

You could not claim spousal benefits on your living wife's record without also filing for your own benefits at the same time. So, the only way that you could qualify for any spousal benefits is if your wife's primary insurance amount (PIA) is more than twice as much as your PIA. A person's PIA is equal to the amount of their Social Security retirement benefit if they start drawing at full retirement age (FRA).

It's true, though, that you could be paid any benefits that you're eligible for starting at FRA regardless of whether or not you're working and no matter how much you earn. Or, you could wait past FRA to start drawing your benefits, in which case your Social Security retirement benefit rate would increase by 2/3rds of 1% for each month that you wait past FRA to claim benefits up until you reach age 70.

And yes, our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) can analyze all of your available filing options in order to help you determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry