In November 2018 at age 62 my wife (10/6/56) is considering filing for her SS benefit, which will be about $838 (1300$ FRB at 66.4mo) Her benefit at 62 will be substantially less than half of my full retirement benefit. I will be 65 and 11 mo. (12/25/52) in Nov 2018. In January 2021,6 6one month after i turn age 68 , I will file for SS benefits and my wife will be 64 & 3 mo. In Jan 2021 can my wife file for spousal benefits and effectively receive 1/2 of what my FRB would have been at age 66?

Hi,

No. In the scenario you present, your wife would keep the reduction for age that she took to start drawing her own benefits early, plus a reduction in her spousal rate (if any) for starting that benefit before her full retirement age (FRA).

For example, Mary files for her reduced retirement benefits at age 62 and receives $600 based on her full retirement rate (PIA) of $800. When Mary reaches FRA, her husband files for his benefits with a PIA of $2000. Mary's spousal benefit would be calculated at 50% of her husband's PIA minus her own PIA, or $200 (i.e. $2000/2 - $800). This excess spousal benefit would then be added to Mary's reduced retirement rate of $600 to give her a combined benefit of $800. However, if Mary's husband files before Mary reaches FRA, then her spousal rate would also be reduced for age.

If your wife does file for early retirement, though, it could enable you to file for just spousal benefits only when you reach age 66 and allow your own benefit rate to grow until age 70. You and your wife should strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website in order to compare your options and determine your best overall filing strategy.

Best, Jerry