I reach age 66 in May 2017 and have enough quarters to qualify for SS. My wife is already 66 and does not qualify on her own record for SS or any other retirement. After reading through your column and purchasing your book there seems to be limited options for us to maximize our SS payment. I have to file and start collecting SS and they my wife qualifies for spousal benefits. To maximize my payment I would have to wait till 70 to file but during the time I am not getting SS my wife would not get her spousal benefit. Do we have any other option to maximize our SS income?

Hi,

You appear to have a good handle on your options. You can wait until age 70 to get the highest possible monthly benefit, but then your wife won't get spousal benefits until then. Or, you can start drawing your benefits at age 66, or even earlier depending on your earnings, in order to enable your spouse to start drawing sooner.

Since your wife is already age 66, her spousal benefit would be the same whether you file now or at age 70, except for future cost of living increases. So, that would be an argument for starting sooner. On the other hand, if you wait until age 70 to file, the higher benefit you receive would carry over to your wife's potential widow's benefits if you die first. So that's an argument for waiting.

You may wish to consider running the maximization software available on this website. It may help you better understand the long term effects of your filing decision.

Best, Jerry