My wife is 66 (born 1951)and receives $1086 SS benefits since1995 for disability but now at her age she's at FRA receiving benefit. I am 63 and still planning to work until 70. Can my wife file a spouse benefit and leave hers gaining that 8 %/yr. and come back to hers when she's 70 ? Or what other strategies are out there for us to maximize our SS benefits ? I also thought of filing and suspending at my FRA and receive 50% of my wife's benefit. Would I be eligible ? Thank you in advance and the good Lord bless you for what you do.

Hi,

No, your wife couldn't stop drawing her own benefits and draw spousal benefits instead. However, when you start drawing your own retirement benefits your wife could potentially become eligible for additional spousal benefits on your record, but only if 50% of your full retirement age rate (PIA) is higher than her own PIA.

If you were born after January 1 1954 you won't be able to file just for spousal benefits without also filing for your own benefits at the same time. It probably wouldn't help you to file for and suspend your own benefits at FRA because even if your wife could be eligible for additional spousal benefits from your record she couldn't be paid those benefits while your benefits are suspended (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/claiming.html?intcmp=AE-RET-PLRT-REL...).

You should strongly consider using our maximization software in order to explore and compare all of your filing options so that you can choose the strategy that best suits your needs.

Best, Jerry