I was born February 11, 1952 and will be 67 this February 2019. My husband was born September 21, 1953 and will be 66 this year. I have not claimed benefits yet, but waited for the 8% delayed retirement credits to build. I did not know to file and suspend. I have since read on page 253 that its ok to just not file until ready. Which is correct: file and suspend now or wait and just file without having suspended? I want to get the delayed retirement credits. I wanted the benefits to start this September, but the book says--since it'll be before I'm 70--to wait till next January to see a higher payment. Correct? My husband said he'll file for his benefits this September. I turned 62 in 2014, will I qualify for full spousal benefits and thus can let social security grow without wiping them out? Last, question#27 on the application (book example) asks "do you want to enroll in Medicare Part B?" I already have it, so I guess I check "no"---correct?

Hi,

There would almost certainly be no reason for you to file for and suspend your benefits, since you could still accrue delayed retirement credits (DRC) until you reach age 70 by simply not filing for your benefits until then. Furthermore, you couldn't draw spousal benefits while your own benefits are suspended, which is something that you might be able to do if and when your husband files for his benefits.

Depending on your and your husband's relative benefit rates, it may be advantageous for one of you to file for your Social Security retirement benefits and have the other spouse file for spousal benefits only. That way, one of you could collect spousal benefits until age 70 while still letting your own retirement benefit rate grow by 8% per year. You must be at least full retirement age (FRA) in order to claim spousal benefits without also filing for your own retirement benefits, though, so the earliest that your husband could potentially claim spousal benefits only would be effective with September 2019.

If you do decide to file for your retirement benefits effective with September 2019, you'll initially only be credited with the DRCs you earned through December 2018. Your DRCs for January - August of 2019 would be creditable effective with your payment for January 2020, but you likely wouldn't actually see that increase until much later. That's because Social Security adds partial year DRCs through an automated process, which I believe is only done every other year.

Regarding your Medicare question, you'd want to answer the question 'yes' if you want your Part B coverage to continue. A negative response to that question would indicate to Social Security that you don't want to continue your Part B coverage.

Before completing your application, however, you and your husband should strongly consider using our software to explore and compare your options so that you can choose the best possible overall strategy for claiming your benefits.

Best, Jerry