Larry,

My spouse will turn 70 in June of 2022 and will take his social security benefits at that time. I was born in October, 1953 and am wanting to restrict my application to my spousal benefit, and wish to delay my own retirement benefit in order to maximize my credits until I turn 70. From reading the rules and regs on filing a restricted application, I believe that I would be able to take advantage of this remaining benefit. So what this means to me, is that I will be able to draw 1/2 of his ss benefit from June of 2022 until I turn 70 in October 2023 -- at that time I will file for my own ss benefit. Just wondering what your thoughts are on using the restricted application in my particular situation?

Thank You

Hi. Your plan sounds good to me based on the limited information in your question. Just to clarify, though, the monthly rate that you can be paid as a spouse is 50% of your husband's primary insurance amount (PIA), not 50% of his actual benefit rate. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

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

Best, Jerry