I just turned 62 and have paid into SS for 40 years.
I am legally married to a Lao citizen and we have a 8 yr old son together.
My son is an US citizen w/ passport and SS number.
We live in Laos for the winter months and Wa. state during the summer.
I recently applied for SS and was informed that my wife will not receive any benefits under my work record because she is not a US citizen nor does she have a green card.
Should I go ahead and start collecting for my son and I and wait to add my wife later when she gets her green card ( about 14 months)
Thank you

Hi. Assuming that you've applied for your benefits, there's almost certainly no reason why you wouldn't want to file an application on behalf of your son. For one thing, benefits can only be paid retroactively for up to a maximum of 6 months prior to a person's application date, so a delay in filing an application for your son could result in a loss of benefits. If your wife later becomes eligible for benefits on your record it will likely cause your son's benefit rate to be reduced due to the family maximum benefit (FMB), but any such reduction would have occurred even if your wife qualified for benefits immediately.

Since you've only recently applied, you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare and analyze all of your options to make sure that you're choosing the best possible filing strategy to maximize benefits for you and your family.

Best, Jerry