I am 67 and started collecting last year. My wife will be 66 in July and will start collecting. We were told by SS that she can collect half of mine and defer taking hers until she is 70. We were told that this applies to anyone born before 1953. SS is now telling us that this is false.

Hi,

What you were initially told is correct, except that this option applies to people born prior to January 2 1954, rather than 1953 (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/deemedfaq.html). Filing for spousal benefits only at age 66 and allowing her own benefit rate to grow until age 70 is likely your wife's best strategy, but she may want to run the maximization software available on this website in order to be sure.

Best, Jerry