I could not get a straight answer from the person at Social Security. I am 66 next month and have applied for my SS which is only going to be $400 since I was an at home mom most of my life. My husband is 67 and still working and plans to until age 70 and then apply for his SS. (We missed the old program of file and suspend by a few days). Because I applied I got a call of SS and they suggested that my husband applies and takes half of mine. I kept asking her if he did that then wouldn't that hurt his benefit at age 70. We want to have the full age 70 benefit and not less. She would not answer my question. When he takes his SS at age 70 then I will apply and get additional SS to bring it up to the 50% of his. The last thing we want is for him to take part of my little SS and then have it ruin his at age 70.

Hi,

No, filing for spousal benefits would have no adverse affect on your husband's own retirement benefit rate at age 70. In your husband's case, it sounds like not filing for spousal benefits would simply be leaving money on the table. However, you may want to strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website in order to be sure that you and your husband choose the best possible filing strategy.

Best, Jerry