Two of my friends are planning to get married this year at age 68. She started collecting her own work SS benefits when she was 65 (before they met); he will be waiting until he is 70 to claim benefits, and she would like to start collecting spousal benefits then, which will be significantly higher than her own benefits. Question: When she claims spousal benefits at age 70, will she be deemed to have started collecting at age 65 (when she claimed her own benefits), rather than receiving the full spousal benefit based on her FRA?

Hi. If your friend doesn't become eligible for spousal benefits until she's at least full retirement age (FRA), then any spousal benefits for which she qualifies would not be reduced. However, she'd retain any reduction for age applied to her own Social Security retirement benefit rate for as long as she and her husband are living.

I’ll give you an example to illustrate. Let’s say Amy filed for her own Social Security retirement benefits at age 65. Amy’s primary insurance amount (PIA) is $800, which is what she would have received if she started drawing at FRA. However, Amy's monthly rate is reduced for age to $746 because she started drawing at age 65. Five years later, Amy's husband starts drawing his benefits when he reaches age 70, and his PIA is $2000. Amy's unreduced excess spousal benefit would then be calculated by subtracting her PIA from 50% of her husband's PIA, which in Amy's case amounts to $200 (i.e. $2000/2 - $800). Amy would then be paid her own reduced benefit of $746 plus her unreduced excess spousal amount of $200 for a combined benefit amount of $946.

Best, Jerry