Hi Larry,
Hope you weekend is going well. I have two questions.
Will appreciate your help greatly:

1. I turned 67 year old in July 2017. If I start taking my social security $ in Jan 2018, how much my wife will get as her spousal benefits.

My wife will turn 66 this month, Nov, 2017. But she started taking her social security benefits @ 62 years age.

The specific question is whether she will get of half of my social security amount or any other amout. Please advise.

2. My second question is how many years will take to recoup all fund collected if I start collecting social security benefits in Jan 2018 versus Jan 2021. Please advise.

Will greatly appreciate your help.

Hi,

Your wife's spousal benefit will be calculated as 50% of your full retirement age benefit rate (PIA), minus her own PIA. That excess amount, if any, will then be added to the reduced retirement benefit she receives on her own record.

I gather from your second question that you are trying to determine what your break-even point would be between starting benefits January 2018 vs. January 2021. However, since you turn age 70 in July 2020, you wouldn't want to start drawing any later than that since you stop receiving delayed retirement credits at age 70. We also don't recommend using break-even analysis to decide when to start drawing benefits. You can check out the answers in the 'Break Even Analysis' link on the left side of this page for our reasoning.

You may want to strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website in order to determine the best overall filing strategy for you and your wife.

Best, Jerry