I am receiving about $2300/mo disability payments, minus medicare expenses ($160+), aged 63. My wife (62) supports us (3 dependents) earning about $24K/yr. I have 2 rentals that net us about 66K/yr. She would like to know how much her spouse support payments would be now, and if they would be 'significantly' higher if she waited until 66. Her concern is she may make too much currently, to make taking benefits now vs. at 66, desirable. Her benefits at full retirement are small, about $380/mo. Thanks!

Hi,

Your wife will be deemed to file for both retirement and spousal benefits whenever she files for either. If she takes benefits at right at age 62, her full retirement rate will be reduced by about 25%, and her excess spousal rate will be reduced by about 30% (https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/quickcalc/spouse.html).

However, the answer could be different if you have children receiving benefits on your record. In that case, your wife may be able to file for unreduced spousal benefits without being deemed to have filed on her own record. But, in that case the family maximum would likely limit the total amount payable on your record to no more than is currently being paid to your children. So, if you do have eligible children, it may be advantageous for your wife to apply on her own record so that the family maximum benefit from her record could be combined with yours.

Also, if your wife earns more than $16,920 this year, $1 of her benefits would be withheld for each $2 she earns in excess of that amount (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html).

Your wife may want to strongly consider running the maximization software on this website to explore her options. The software can tell her what her approximate benefit rate would be at any age, and how her earnings would affect her benefits. In addition, the software can handle computations involving family maximum benefits, as well as combined family maximum cases.

Best, Jerry