My FRA is July 2017; my wife's FRA is June 2017. My benefit is about 3 times as large as my wife's benefit. We are not working and will not work in the future. Is there an obvious strategy, given the closing of the file and suspend "loophole.

Hi,

It sounds like the probable best strategy would be for your wife to file for her retirement benefits effective with June 2017, and for you to file for spousal benefits only effective with July 2017. You could then file on your record at age 70 and your wife could file for an excess spousal benefit at that time.

You may want to run the maximization software available on this website before filing, though, in order to make sure that you choose the best possible strategy.

Best, Jerry