Can I claim spousal benefits if we both delay Social Security until our late 60s?

The short answer is no, you won't qualify for a spousal benefit in this scenario. When you claim at 70, you'll get 100% of your own benefit plus delayed retirement credits (an additional 8% per year from your Full Retirement Age to 70). Since your own benefit with those increases will almost certainly be higher than 50% of your husband's benefit, you won't receive a spousal benefit at all. Spousal benefits are only paid if they would be higher than your own benefit, and the SSA automatically pays you whichever is higher.

The answer is it depends on the exact $$ amounts. If your own benefit at age 70 is LESS than 50% of your husbands benefit at age 68, then yes you'd get a combo payment that equals 50% of his. But if your own benefit is already higher than that 50% mark, u won't get any spousal amount. SSA pays the higher of the two.

My wife and I were in almost the same situation last year!!! The SSA tells you that you get the larger of either your own benefit OR the spousal benefit, not both added together. Since you're waiting till 70, your own benefit will have those nice delayed credits added. The spousal benefit caps at 50% of his PRIMARY INSURANCE AMOUNT (what he'd get at his full retirement age) - it doesn't include HIS delayed credits. Make sense?

Everyone's giving you good information, but I think they're missing one possibility. If your own retirement benefit at age 70 is still less than 50% of your husband's PIA (his benefit at full retirement age, not his increased benefit at 68), then you WOULD receive a combination benefit. You'd get your own retirement benefit plus a spousal add-on that would bring your total benefit up to 50% of his PIA. Given the income difference you mentioned (him earning 3x what you did), this might actually be your situation.

Yes, definitely! Create an account at ssa.gov and you can see your earnings record and estimated benefits. The estimates will show what you'd receive at different ages. For the most accurate calculation, look at what you'd receive at your Full Retirement Age - that's your PIA. Then your husband's PIA multiplied by 50% is what you'd compare to your own benefit (with delayed credits) to see if you'd receive any spousal addition.

UGH I went through this EXACT thing last year and it took me FOREVER to get someone on the phone who could explain it properly!! My husband's benefit was way higher than mine too. No one ever bothers to explain these details until you're actually filing and then it's too late to plan properly!!

One thing nobody has mentioned yet - don't forget to factor in survivor benefits in your planning. If your husband passes away first (statistically more likely since men typically have shorter lifespans), you would be eligible to receive his full benefit amount (including delayed credits) as a survivor benefit. This is another good reason for the higher earner to delay claiming as long as possible - it maximizes the survivor benefit for the remaining spouse.

My neighbor said she got both her benefit AND her husbands!!! Why do u people say she can only get one???

My sister actually got a spousal benefit for 3 years and THEN switched to her own benefit when she hit 70. But that was under the old rules that changed in 2015 with the Bipartisan Budget Act. You can't do that strategy anymore unless you were born before January 2, 1954. Just mentioning it because there's a lot of outdated advice floating around from people who filed under the old rules!