If my wife is receiving spousal benefits, and files to switch to her retirement benefit only, and retroactive 6 months, will social security recover her spousal amount she received for those last six months, before they pay her the lump sum ? Thank you, Jim

Hi Jim. Yes. If your wife's been drawing spousal benefits and applies to switch to her own higher benefits retroactively, Social Security would only pay her the difference between her own benefit rate and her spousal rate for any months that she's already been paid spousal benefits. It sounds like your wife may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze her options so that she can choose the best strategy for maximizing benefits.

Best, Jerry