my wife is 56 and drawing SSDI $850 befor medicare. im 66 and the high earner ,can i flle on her social security and leave mine to grow till im 70. we been married 25 years

Hi,

If you're now age 66, which would be full retirement age (FRA), you could definitely file just for spousal benefits only on your wife's record while letting your own retirement benefit rate grow until age 70. However, there is a special family maximum benefit (FMB) rate that applies to disability (SSDI) records which can limit spousal benefits to as little as zero.

Spousal benefits at FRA are normally paid at of rate of 50% of the worker's primary insurance amount (PIA), but if your wife's SSDI rate $850 the special disability FMB would likely limit your spousal rate to a very small amount. Still, though, even a small amount would be better than nothing if you're planning to wait until age 70 to draw your own Social Security retirement benefits. You may want to consider using our maximization software to compare your options and determine your best filing strategy.

Best, Jerry