I have been getting spousal SS benefits. I turn 70 early January. Do I need to notify Soc. Sec. or will they automatically switch me to my own benefits. Thanks

Hi,

Social Security can't switch you to drawing your own benefits unless and until you apply for those benefits. Assuming that you have enough work credits to qualify for benefits based on your own work record, the only way that you could be collecting only spousal benefits is if you specifically excluded your own Social Security retirement benefits from the scope of your application when you applied for spousal benefits. Otherwise, you would have been considered to be applying for both retirement and spousal benefits, and you would then have been paid only the higher of the two benefit rates. Therefore, since you haven't yet applied for your own benefits, Social Security can't pay you those benefits unless and until you file an application for them.

Best, Jerry