I will be 65 this June 2, 2017 my wife will be 58 October 2, 2017, we are 7 years apart. I was going to file for SS when I am 70 my wife would be 63 then. She is unsure of taking early retirement at 63 or wait until her full retirement age at 67. We heard about file and suspend. What is the best strategy for us. Thank you

Hi,

Don't give any more thought to file and suspend. Due to the gap in your and your wife's ages and the changes passed by Congress last year (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/suspendfaq.html), filing and suspending would not be advantageous for either of you.

The best filing strategy for you and your wife depends largely on your comparative benefit rates. Your plan to wait until age 70 to apply is likely your best bet, but your wife may not benefit from waiting that long to file. You may wish to run the maximization software available on this website for a full analysis of all of your filing options.

Best, Jerry