Can my wife switch from spousal Social Security benefits to her own higher benefit at age 70?
I've been holding off on claiming my Social Security until I hit 70 in about 3 months to maximize my benefit amount. My wife is currently 68 and hasn't filed for any benefits yet. Our plan was for her to claim a spousal benefit based on my record once I start collecting at 70. Here's where I'm confused - when my wife turns 70 next year, can she switch from the spousal benefit to her own retirement benefit if her benefit would be higher than the spousal amount (which is 50% of mine)? Or once she claims the spousal benefit, is she permanently stuck with that amount even if her own benefit would eventually be higher? I want to make sure we're maximizing our total household SS income and not making a mistake that could cost us thousands over the long run. Any insights from folks who've navigated this situation would be greatly appreciated!
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Yuki Tanaka
You're not understanding how spousal benefits work. Your wife can't "switch" from spousal to her own benefit later. When she applies, SSA will always pay her the HIGHER of either her own benefit or the spousal benefit. If her own benefit at 70 is higher than the spousal benefit, she'll get her own. No switching needed. Honestly folks, this stuff isn't that complicated if you just read the SSA website.
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CaptainAwesome
•Thanks for the clarification. So if I understand correctly, when my wife applies at 68 (when I'm 70), the SSA will automatically compare her own benefit to the spousal benefit and give her whichever is higher? And this calculation takes into account that her own benefit would continue growing until age 70?
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Esmeralda Gómez
hi there i think ur missing something important. when ur wife claims ANY benefit before her FRA she gets a reduced amount forever. if she waits til 70 for her own benefit she gets the max but if she takes spousal at 68 she loses some of her own future benefit too i think. my sister did something similar and regrets it now
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Klaus Schmidt
•That's not quite right. If the original poster's wife is already 68, she's already past her Full Retirement Age (which would be 66 or 66 and some months depending on birth year). So she wouldn't face any reduction for claiming spousal benefits now. However, what's critically important to understand is that she cannot take ONLY spousal benefits now and let her own benefit continue to grow until 70. When she files, she's deemed to be filing for ALL benefits she's eligible for. This is called "deemed filing" and it means the SSA will pay her the higher of either benefit, but she can't choose to take one now and switch to the other later.
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Aisha Patel
The previous comments have some good information, but let me clarify a few things based on my experience with Social Security planning: 1. Since your wife is already past her Full Retirement Age (FRA), she won't face any reduction in her spousal benefit when she claims it. 2. The critical issue is that under current law (since 2016), when your wife files for ANY benefit, she is deemed to be filing for ALL benefits she's eligible for. This is called "deemed filing." 3. When she files, SSA will calculate both her own retirement benefit (as of the age she files) AND her spousal benefit (50% of your PIA). She'll receive whichever amount is higher. 4. If she claims at 68, she's essentially "locking in" her own benefit at its age-68 value. It will NOT continue growing until 70. 5. If her own benefit at age 70 would be higher than the spousal benefit, she might want to wait until 70 to file for anything. You should consider calculating both scenarios: A) Wife claims at 68 when you claim at 70 B) Both of you claim at your respective age 70 See which gives you the higher lifetime benefits based on your life expectancies.
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CaptainAwesome
•Thank you for this detailed explanation! This is exactly what I needed to understand. So my wife has two choices: 1. Claim at 68 when I claim at 70, getting the higher of her age-68 benefit or spousal benefit 2. Wait until she's 70 to maximize her own benefit If her own benefit at 70 would be higher than the spousal benefit, option 2 makes more sense. We'll need to do the calculations to see which route gives us more over the long run.
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LilMama23
My husband and I were in this EXACT situation last year!! So frustrating trying to figure it all out. I waited until 70 to get my max benefit because mine was higher than the spousal. The SSA people gave us different answers every time we called which made it worse!!! Wasted hours on hold only to get wrong info half the time.
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Dmitri Volkov
•I've found that using Claimyr has saved me so much frustration with getting through to SSA. You can reach an agent usually within 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours or getting disconnected. They helped me get through when I had similar questions about coordination of benefits with my spouse. Check out their demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU and their website at claimyr.com - it made a huge difference for me when trying to sort through these complex benefit questions.
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Gabrielle Dubois
I thought the rules changed in 2015 with that budget bill?? Doesn't restricted application not work anymore? I'm so confused about all this... my neighbor said his wife took spousal only at 66 and then switched to her own at 70 but that was like 7 years ago so maybe different rules applied?
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Aisha Patel
•You're correct about the rule change. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 eliminated the "restricted application" strategy for most people born after January 1, 1954. Before that change, someone at FRA could file a restricted application for just spousal benefits while letting their own retirement benefit grow until 70. For anyone born after January 1, 1954 (which includes the original poster and his wife), when you file for any benefit, you're deemed to be filing for all benefits. This means you get the higher of your own or spousal benefit, but can't take one now and switch to the other later. Your neighbor's experience was under the old rules, which no longer apply to most people.
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Klaus Schmidt
Just to add some specific numbers that might help you visualize this situation: Let's say your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) - the amount you'd get at your Full Retirement Age - is $3,000. At age 70, with delayed retirement credits, you'd receive approximately $3,720. If your wife's PIA is $2,400, at age 68 she would receive about $2,688 on her own record. The spousal benefit would be 50% of your PIA, so $1,500. In this scenario, when your wife files at age 68, she would automatically receive her own benefit of $2,688 since it's higher than the spousal benefit of $1,500. If she waited until 70, her own benefit would grow to about $2,976. Everyone's numbers are different, but this illustrates why many couples with similar earnings histories often find that spousal benefits aren't relevant - both spouses' own benefits are higher.
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CaptainAwesome
•This numerical example is extremely helpful! Our numbers are somewhat similar to your example, with my benefit being higher but my wife also having a substantial benefit on her own record. Based on all the advice here, it sounds like we should calculate both scenarios: 1. Wife claims at 68 (getting her own benefit if it's higher than spousal) 2. Wife waits until 70 for maximum benefit Then we can see which option maximizes our lifetime benefits. Thanks everyone for all the helpful information!
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