When my wife turned 66, I filed and suspended ( I was 68) so that she could claim spousal benefits on my income. My wife was born in 1951, so she was grandfathered in, even though the law had just changed to prevent this possibility. Now I am approaching 70. Soon it will be time for me to unsuspend and start taking benefits which means that she will have to simultaneously end her spousal benefits. If we do this online, can we trust the Social Security Administration to get the timing right? Or do we need to insist on an in-person appointment so we don't violate their timing rules inadvertently? I turn 70 on Dec 25. I am still working and my income this year will raise my 35-year average. Am I better off claiming in December 2019 or in January 2020?

Hi,

Apparently, you filed for and suspended your benefits prior to April 30 2016. Otherwise your wife couldn't be paid spousal benefits while your benefits are suspended. In any case, though, you don't need to do anything to reinstate your payments at age 70. Social Security automatically reinstates voluntarily suspended benefits when the beneficiary reaches age 70. If you turn 70 on December 25th, your benefits will be reinstated effective with the Social Security payment for December, which is paid in January. Waiting until effective with January to reinstate your payments wouldn't raise your benefit rate, so you wouldn't want to do that.

Any increase in your benefit rate resulting from your 2019 earnings would take effect with your payment for January 2020. That increase should be automatic, too, but Social Security doesn't do those automated recomputations until around September of the year after the year in which you had the earnings. However, any resulting benefit increase caused by your 2019 earnings would be retroactive to your payment for January, though, and Social Security would pay you any back pay due. You might be able to speed up the process by submitting proof of your 2019 earnings (e.g. W-2 form) to Social Security and requesting a manual recomputation.

Reinstatement of your payments when you reach age 70 will have no effect on your wife's benefits, though. She can continue drawing her spousal benefits indefinitely, however, if she would be eligible for a higher benefit on her own Social Security record then she could switch to those benefits at any time. If your wife would be due a higher rate on her own account, it would likely be most advantageous for her to wait until age 70 to file for her own Social Security retirement benefits. Your wife may want to use our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to compare her options so that she can choose the best possible strategy.

Assuming that your wife will be filing for Social Security retirement benefits at some point, she won't be able to file online since she's currently drawing spousal benefits. She'll need to apply either by phone or in-person at a Social Security office.

Best, Jerry