Can I claim spousal Social Security benefits now at 68 and switch to my own at 70?
I've been working and paying into Social Security since I was 18 and finally retired last year at 67. My husband is 78 and started collecting his SS benefits when he was 62. His monthly check is about $1,850 now with COLAs. I'm trying to maximize my retirement income, so my plan has been to wait until 70 to start my own benefits (which should be around $3,200/month according to my SS statement). But I'm wondering if I could receive the 50% spousal benefit based on my husband's record NOW, and then still switch to my own higher benefit when I turn 70? I've heard conflicting information about whether this is still possible since the rule changes. Does anyone know if this strategy still works for someone my age? Would collecting a spousal benefit now affect my own benefit amount when I turn 70?
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CosmicCruiser
Unfortunately, that strategy (called "restricted application") is no longer available to people born after January 1, 1954. Since you're 68 now in 2025, you were born after that cutoff date. When you file for any Social Security benefit now, you're deemed to be filing for ALL benefits you're eligible for, and you'll receive whichever is higher. In your case, your own retirement benefit at 68 would almost certainly be higher than your spousal benefit (50% of your husband's PIA), so you wouldn't receive any spousal benefit anyway.
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Diego Vargas
•Oh no! I thought I could still do this. So there's really no way for me to get any benefits until 70 without giving up the delayed retirement credits? I keep hearing about different rules for people born in different years and it's so confusing.
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Anastasia Fedorov
my sister tried to do EXACTLY what ur talking about and they told her she had to take her own benefit. its all different now with the new rules. something about deemed filing? the SSA changed everything for us younger folks!!
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Diego Vargas
•Thanks for sharing that. It's so frustrating that they changed these rules! I feel like I did all this planning based on old information.
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CosmicCruiser
Exactly right - due to the deemed filing rule that now applies to everyone born after Jan 1, 1954, you have two choices: 1) File now at 68 and get your own retirement benefit (which has already earned some delayed retirement credits but not the maximum), or 2) Wait until 70 to file and get your maximum possible benefit. There's no way to receive ONLY the spousal benefit while letting your own benefit continue to grow anymore. That strategy was eliminated by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.
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Sean Doyle
•This is why the government can't be trusted!!! They change the rules whenever they want and we have no say in it. I planned my whole retirement around rules that just disappeared overnight.
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Zara Rashid
I just went through this exact situation with my wife. I'm 80 and she's 69. We were hoping she could collect spousal benefits while waiting until 70 for her maximum benefit. After THREE frustrating calls to the SSA with different answers each time, we finally got someone who explained it clearly. The "file and restrict" strategy only works if you were born before January 2, 1954. For everyone else, when you file for any benefit, you're automatically filing for all benefits. The good news is that your own benefit at 70 will include all the delayed retirement credits (8% per year after FRA) so waiting is still valuable if you can afford to.
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Diego Vargas
•Thanks for sharing your experience. It's so disappointing that this option isn't available to me. I guess I'll just have to wait until 70 if I want the maximum.
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Luca Romano
Try calling the SSA again and speak to a different person, sometimes they give COMPLETELY wrong information. I had to call 5 times about my widows benefits before I got someone who actually knew the rules!!
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Nia Jackson
•I tried calling SSA last week and was on hold for TWO HOURS before getting disconnected. Then tried again and waited another hour. Finally gave up. Their phone system is broken and nobody seems to care. Has anyone found a way to actually talk to a real person there without wasting an entire day?
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NebulaNova
I used a service called Claimyr last month when I was trying to sort out a similar SS question about my delayed retirement credits. It got me through to an actual SSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of the usual 2+ hour wait. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU and their website is claimyr.com - saved me a lot of frustration since I had already tried calling multiple times and kept getting disconnected.
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Nia Jackson
•Thanks for this tip! I'll check it out. Anything is better than those endless hold times.
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Anastasia Fedorov
wait so if she files at 70 will she get BOTH benefits added together??? or just the higher one?
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CosmicCruiser
•You only get the higher of the two benefits, not both added together. In this case, at age 70, her own retirement benefit (with 3 years and 8 months of delayed retirement credits beyond her FRA of 66-4mos) will almost certainly be higher than any spousal benefit would be.
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Sean Doyle
THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS RIGGED!!!! They got rid of file and suspend, they eliminated restricted application, they tax our benefits, and they STILL haven't fixed the WEP/GPO problems!!! When will Congress stop treating seniors like ATM machines????
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Zara Rashid
•While there are certainly issues with how Social Security has evolved, the changes to file and suspend and restricted application were actually intended to eliminate strategies that primarily benefited higher-income households. Most people who could afford to delay benefits were higher earners. That said, I do agree that more transparency and consistency in the rules would help everyone.
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Diego Vargas
Thank you all for the helpful information. I'm disappointed but at least now I understand my options better. I think I'll wait until 70 to maximize my benefit since I can afford to do so at this point. It's frustrating that the rules changed and eliminated this strategy, but I appreciate everyone taking the time to explain it so clearly!
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Zara Rashid
•That's a good decision if you can afford it. Every year you wait after your FRA adds approximately 8% to your lifetime benefit amount, and that increase is permanent and includes future COLAs. At current life expectancies for women your age, waiting until 70 tends to pay off in the long run.
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