I will be 63 this year and my wife will be 62. I made $78,000. last year and my wife has only had a part-time job for 19 years and was a stay at home mom ( 4 children) for the 15 years before that. She made a little over 13,000. last year. My job is being phased out and I could take a 20,000 cut in pay and maybe get 2 more years out of the job if I want to. I have 5 more years to pay on my house but have enough money to pay my bills until 70 and take Social Security then or any time before then, What would be the best way to maximize my benefits?

Hi,

You were grandfathered with regard to deeming under the new law passed by Congress in 2015, but your wife was not (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/reference.nsf/links/02052016024404PM). As a result, you still have the option of filing a restricted application for spousal benefits only at full retirement age (66 in your case), while allowing your benefit to grow by 8% per year until age 70. If I had to guess based on the limited information available in your question, that would be the first strategy that comes to mind.

In order for you to receive spousal benefits, however, your wife must file on her account. So, she'd either need to file for reduced benefits when you reach age 66, or you'd have to wait until she turns 66 if she'd prefer to receive unreduced benefits.

There are hundreds of possible filing options, so you may want to give serious consideration to running the maximization software available on this website in order to help you decide what's best for you and your wife.

Best, Jerry