In the midst of reading the revised Get What's Yours. So many situations which do not apply. As of today, I am 63 (April 1953) and my wife is 63 (Nov 1953). Should she now file and receive a spousal benefit based on my record? Then she waits until age 70 to apply for her own personal benefit? Then I would file and begin receiving payments when I reach age 70? Or does the rule change affect us. I am ok with buying your software but need to know some basic direction.

Hi,

Both you and your wife were grandfathered with regard to the new deeming law passed by Congress in 2015, since you were both born prior to January 2 1954. What that means is, you could file for spousal benefits only at age 66 and allow your own benefit rate to grow until age 70, or your wife could. However, only one of you can do this because the worker must be drawing their own benefits in order for the spouse to be eligible.

Neither you or your wife can file for spousal benefits before age 66 without also filing for your own benefits. So, the best strategy for you and your wife may be for one of you to file for retirement benefits when the other turns age 66, so that one of you can draw spousal benefits for 4 years while letting their own benefit rate grow until age 70. The best strategy depends on a number of factors, though, so you should strongly consider running the maximization software available on this website in order to determine your best option.

Best, Jerry