I will turn 70 in August. My wife will be 67 at that time. I want to make sure that I receive my full benefit for 70 and have no look back period applied. What special language should I use in the comments section to avoid any problems? Also, my wife will be applying as a faasf. What language should she use in the comments section to avoid receiving her own benefits. We are Maxifi members. Finally, when would be the best time to apply for both. Thanks, Mark

Hi Mark,

I'll start out by explaining that although I answer the questions submitted to this forum, I do not have access to our software customers' data. Therefore, you may want to resubmit your question using an online contact form from the help menu so that you can receive a personalized response from one of our experts with access to your data.

I can tell you that if you reach age 70 in August and you want to claim benefits effective with that month, all you really need to do is specify August as your month of election to claim benefits on your application. However, if you happen to have been born on August 1st, you'd want to claim benefits starting with July. That's because Social Security counts you as reaching your next age on the day prior to your birthday.

If you file online, there will be a question on the application that asks you when you want to start your benefits, and you'd want to answer 'August', assuming that you weren't born on August 1st. You could also add a statement in remarks saying something like "I want to claim benefits effective with August 2020 and I don't want to receive benefits for any month prior to that", but it isn't really necessary.

If you file by phone or in person at a Social Security office, a Social Security representative will complete the application for you. You would just need to tell the representative that you want to choose the month that you reach age 70 as your month of election to start benefits, and that you don't want benefits for any months prior to that. You'll also want to review your copy of the application to make sure that the correct month of election is shown on the application.

There's an apparent typo in your question, but I assume that you meant to type that your wife will be filing a restricted application for spousal benefits when you file. In her case, she'll just want to choose the same month that you start your benefits as her month of election to start her spousal benefits. If she files online there should be a question that asks "If you are eligible for both retirement benefits and spouse's benefits, do you want to delay receipt of retirement benefits." Your wife will want to answer 'yes' to that question in order to restrict the scope of her application to spousal benefits only. She could optionally add a statement in remarks such as "I wish to restrict the scope of my application to spouse's benefits only."

If your wife files by phone or in person at a Social Security office, she'll want to tell the Social Security representative with whom she speaks that she wants claim spousal benefits effective with your first month of entitlement, and that she wants to restrict the scope of her application to spousal benefits only. Your wife should review her copy of the application to make sure that the correct month of election is shown on the application, and that it contains a statement clarifying that she's not filing for her own retirement benefits.

Your wife can't file her application for spousal benefits before you apply for your benefits, but she could file on the same day or on any day after you file. Social Security allows people to apply for benefits up to 4 months early, so you and your wife could file as early as April if you want to claim benefits effective with August. You don't have to file that early, though, and if you file at least 2 months early it should give Social Security plenty of time to get your applications processed so that you can be paid timely.

Best, Jerry