According to her account report from SSI, my wife is one credit short (39 out of 40) to be able to draw social security on her own account. (She has been a homemaker most of her life, so has not reported any taxable income for many years). The questions are these:
1) Should she get a job so that she can earn the required taxable income (+/- $1500) so that she can draw on her own account? Or can she draw on my account as my spouse?
2) If she draws on my account, should she wait until I start drawing in October of this year (when I will meet my 66 years and two months age requirement for full benefit) or could she start drawing immediately?
Thanks for any info you can provide!
Joe

Hi Joe. I'll start by answering your second question first. Your wife couldn't be paid spousal benefits at least until you start drawing your benefits.

Your wife couldn't collect her own benefits plus spousal benefits at the same time, so assuming that your primary insurance amount (PIA) is more than twice as much as her own potential PIA, the only thing that your wife might gain by earning a 40th quarter of Social Security coverage would be the potential for collecting benefits on her own account before you start drawing your benefits. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

I would need to need to know your PIA, and your wife's age and potential PIA to be able to tell you how much if any upside there might be to her qualifying for benefits on her own account. You and your wife should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze your options so that you can determine the best possible strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry