I turn 70 on January 21 2019 and will apply for SS benefits. My wife will turn 65 on December 20, 2018. She will continue to work. What options should we consider in her applying for spousal benefits?
Thanks

Hi,

If your wife's own full retirement age benefit rate, or primary insurance amount (PIA), is more than 50% of your PIA, then her best option would probably be to file just for spousal benefits only at her full retirement age (FRA) of 66 and allow her own retirement benefit rate to grow until age 70. She has the option of doing that because she was born prior to January 2 1954, so she wouldn't be deemed to be filing for her own retirement benefits if she files for spousal benefits at FRA or later (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/deemedfaq.html).

Your wife could file for reduced spousal benefits when you file for your benefits, but she'd then be deemed to also be filing for her own retirement benefits at the same time. She would then basically receive the higher of the two rates and her benefit amount would be reduced for age for starting to draw prior to FRA. Furthermore, until she reaches FRA her benefits could be subject to full or partial withholding if she earns more than the Social Security earning test exempt amount ( https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html).

Your wife should strongly consider using our maximization software to explore and compare her various filing options in order to determine her best overall strategy for claiming her benefits.

Best, Jerry