Dear Liz: My husband has been on Social Security disability since he was 61. He’s now 69 and receives $1,700 a month. I will be turning 66 next year. I still work and want to file for spousal benefits, which would be half of his benefit, but I’m not sure what the best option is. I know I would get $850 a month until I turn 70, when I would get my maximum retirement benefit. Or do I file for my retirement benefit now, which is more than half of my husband’s?
Answer: Since you were born before Jan. 1, 1954, you still have the option of filing a restricted application at 66 for spousal benefits only and then switching to your own retirement benefit when it maxes out at age 70. Since it’s still available for you, you’ll probably want to take advantage of it since you’ll almost certainly get more in total from Social Security that way.
People born Jan. 1, 1954, and later won’t be able to file restricted applications for spousal benefits. Instead, when they apply for benefits, their own retirement check will be compared to their spousal benefit and they’ll get the larger of the two amounts. They no longer have the option of applying just for spousal benefits and then switching to their own benefit later.
Since you’re the higher earner, it makes even more sense to put off taking your retirement benefit as long as possible. Not only will you probably maximize the amount you get, but you’ll also be maximizing the spousal benefit that one of you will have to live on when the other dies. (Remember that at death, one Social Security benefit disappears and the survivor must get by on the larger of the two.)