I was born in January 1953 and my husband in October 1953. He has been on Social Security Disability for about 10 years. I have read your book Get What's Yours, and know about some of subsequent changes to the rules. I am planning on applying to receive spousal benefits in January when I am 66 (approx $9,000/yr) and then switching over to my own benefits at 70 (approx $40,000/yr). I believe that because my husband is on disability I can apply for benefits in January even though he will only be 65 at that point. Is that correct, or do I have to wait until he turns 66? From what I understand since we were born prior to Jan 1954 this will not mess up allowing my own benefits to increase until I take them at 70. Are there any glitches that you can see in my assumptions?

Thank you

Hi,

Yes, your plan sounds fine based on the information listed in your question. Your husband doesn't need to be full retirement age (FRA) in order for you to file for spousal benefits, he just needs to be drawing either his disability or retirement benefits. And, as long as you don't file before your FRA of 66 you can file just for spousal benefits only without affecting your own age 70 retirement benefit rate.

I should mention that in some cases the family maximum benefit rate is lower on disability records than it is on retirement records, which could potentially affect your spousal rate. However, it doesn't sound like that should be a factor in your case based on the spousal rate you mentioned in your question. To be safe, though, you may want to consider using our maximization software just to make sure that you've selected the best possible strategy.

Best, Jerry