Hi Larry, I was born in 1957 (63). My husband was born in 1953 (67) and is now getting SS after he retired. Can I file for a part of (his SS) and let mine keep building since I am still working? Thanks in advance.

Hi,

No, you can't, unless you have an eligible child in your care who's drawing child benefits. Only people born prior to January 2 1954 are allowed to file for spousal benefits without also being required to file for their own Social Security retirement benefits at the same time, and even they can only do so if they file for spousal benefits at full retirement age (FRA) or later. So, whenever you apply for benefits you'll be deemed to be applying for both your own benefits and for spousal benefits at the same time. You can only be paid essentially the higher of those 2 benefit rates, and your rate will be reduced if you start drawing prior to FRA.

You can still potentially increase your own benefit rate by continuing to work, though, but only if you earn more in a year than you did in one of your previous 35 highest years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings. Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings, so additional years of earnings only increase a person's benefit rate if they're higher than one or more of the 35 years currently being used to calculate the person's benefit rate.

You may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry