I am 57 years old and do not plan to retire until I am 65. However, my wife is going to be 65 this year. She has been a homemaker throughout all of our marriage and his essentially gained no income of her own during our marriage. She is also a permanent resident alien. My question is this: can she and when can my wife start claiming her share of my Social Security? Can she claim that share while I am still working and until I retire? What would be the impact on my Social Security payments when I do reach 65 and retire? This is not a common scenario, but I'm sure I'm not the only one in a situation like this, so perhaps it will help others if you could address this. Thank you

Hi,

No, your wife couldn't receive spousal benefits on your record until you actually start drawing your benefits. However, if she's been a permanent U.S. resident for at least 5 years she could enroll in Medicare at age 65, although she would not be able to get free Part A (inpatient hospital) coverage until you turn age 62. She could get free Part A coverage when you turn age 62, though, even if you don't file for your benefits at that time.

If your wife doesn't have healthcare coverage under an employer group plan through your work, then she may want to consider signing up for at least Part B and possibly Part D of Medicare when she turns age 65 in order to avoid potentially having to pay higher premium rates in the future. She wouldn't be subject to the higher premium penalties, though, as long as she has qualifying health care coverage based on your active employment. For more information on Medicare, refer to this publication: https://www.medicare.gov/pubs/pdf/10050-Medicare-and-You.pdf.

Best, Jerry