Hi Larry. My wife is about to turn 64. Her FRA is 66.5. I recently talked to S.S. and asked if my wife could take spousal without taking her S.S. I was told she would have to take her S.S. before she would be eligible for spousal, and that she would have to wait until her FRA before she was eligible for spousal. I was told the law had changed in January 2020 and that deeming was no longer valid. I read "Get What's Yours" and it seems if the law changed as I was told, a lot is no longer valid. Can you comment?

Hi,

The 2015 Social Security amendments changed the law regarding both deeming and voluntary suspensions. For details, refer to the following Social Security website: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/claiming.html. The revised edition of Larry's book (https://www.amazon.com/Get-Whats-Yours-Revised-Security/dp/1501144766) accounts for those changes.

Deeming was actually expanded under the amended law, not eliminated. As a result, since your wife was born after January 1 1954, she could never file just for spousal benefits without also being required to file for her own benefits at the same time. Therefore, the only way that your wife could qualify for spousal benefits is if 50% of your primary insurance amount (PIA) is higher than her own PIA, and she couldn't qualify for spousal benefits at least until 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).

Your wife wouldn't have to wait until her full retirement age (FRA) to file for spousal benefits if she's eligible, but she couldn't do so unless she also files for her own benefits. And, if she starts drawing benefits prior to FRA her benefits will be reduced for age. You wife may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze her options in order to determine her best strategy for maximizing her benefits.

Best, Jerry