Thanks for your time.

My husband and I are both 64. I was born in August and my husband was born in July. My FRA is 770 and my husband's is 2626. Our present plan is to wait till FRA. In August when I reach 66 and he will be 66 plus one month, I will file for my personal full retirement benefit and he will file and restrict his filing to spousal benefits only, 50% of my benefit at 66. When he turns 70 and I will be one month shy of age 70, he will take his personal benefits based on the maximum increase achieved by delaying for four years to age 70. At this time I will take my full spousal benefits based on his FRA at 66 and still have survivor benefits based on his age 70 increased benefits.

The other option we are exploring is to start my benefits today, 20 months before age 66 which will only reduce my benefit modestly (about 11% or $85) but will give me 20 months of this reduced benefit before full retirement of approx 685 per month and still preserve my full survivor benefit based on my husband at 70. I know I will get a reduction at his age 70 but I am not sure how much. I believe I will get my complete 50% of my husbands 66 FRA for spousal benefits but reduced by 11% for my portion based on my record (correct?). What would be the amount I would draw at 70 be? Knowing this would help in our decision. He will still wait till age 66 to file and restrict to spousal benefits.

Any advice?
Which is the best strategy?

Hi,

We generally advise people to do their planning based on the assumption of a long life expectancy to guard against running short of funds before they die. So, all things being equal that would argue in favor of the first strategy you mentioned.

Here is how your combined benefit rate would be calculated in your alternate strategy based on the figures that you cite. Your excess spousal rate would be calculated by subtracting your PIA from 50% of your husband's PIA, or $543 using your figures ($2626/2 - $770). That benefit would not be reduced since you would become eligible for it after turning full retirement age, and would then be added to your reduced retirement rate ($685 based on your figures) to give you a combined rate of $1228.

I think you would find our maximization software to be very helpful to you in making your decision. The software will allow you to compare your options by showing you the long term financial effects of each strategy.

Best, Jerry