Social Security dilemma - take spousal benefits at FRA or wait until 70 for maximum benefit?

I went through something similar last year with my husband's benefits. If you were born before January 2, 1954, you can still file a restricted application for spousal benefits at FRA and then switch to your own higher benefit at 70. But if you were born after that date (which it sounds like you might be), this option is no longer available—the deemed filing rule means you'll be filing for ALL benefits you're eligible for when you apply. Check exactly when you were born as that's the critical factor here.

The previous commenter is correct about the rule change. Since you were born after January 2, 1954, you can't file a restricted application for just spousal benefits. When you file, you'll be deemed to be filing for all benefits you're eligible for, and you'll receive the higher of either your own retirement benefit or your spousal benefit (which would be up to 50% of your wife's PIA, not her increased benefit amount). Important note: your wife's PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) is NOT the $3,300 she receives now. That's her age 70 increased amount. Her PIA would be the amount she would have received at her FRA. So your spousal benefit would be 50% of her PIA, which is likely closer to $2,500. Since your own benefit at FRA ($3,400) is already higher than what you'd get as a spouse, there's no advantage to filing for spousal benefits. Your best strategy is likely to wait until 70 to maximize your own benefit, especially since you're both still working and don't need the income immediately.

The 50% spousal benefit is ONLY based on her FRA amount not her age 70 amount. And if ur already getting $3400 on your own that's higher than any spousal benefit you could get. Wait till 70 if u can afford it!

You're in a great position actually. Since both of you are still working, you don't immediately need the Social Security income. Given that your own benefit at FRA ($3,400) would already exceed any spousal benefit you could receive (which would be at most half of your wife's PRIMARY insurance amount, not her age 70 amount), and your benefit at 70 would be significantly higher at $4,000, the financially optimal strategy is clear: wait until 70 to claim your own retirement benefit. Each year you delay beyond FRA increases your benefit by 8%, which is essentially a guaranteed return on investment that you can't find anywhere else. Plus, if you're the higher earner, maximizing your benefit also maximizes any potential survivor benefit for your wife should you predecease her. Since you're continuing to work, also remember that if you have any years of high earnings now, they might replace lower-earning years in your benefit calculation, potentially increasing your benefit even more.

I had SO MUCH TROUBLE getting an actual person at SSA to explain this to me when I was in a similar situation!!! Kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in under 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent confirmed what others here are saying - for those of us born after 1954, we can't do the restricted application anymore. You have to take ALL benefits you're eligible for. Since your own benefit is higher than any spousal benefit would be, waiting until 70 makes the most financial sense if you can afford to wait.

wrong wrong wrong!!! u can ABSOLUTELY file for spousal and switch later! my brother did this last year!

Does anyone know if the earnings test applies here? Since they're both still working, wouldn't some benefits get withheld anyway? I got confused about this part when I filed.

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice! I wanted to follow up with one more question - if I do wait until 70 to maximize my benefit, and something happens to me before then, would my wife receive anything based on my record? Or am I risking leaving money on the table by waiting?

My sister tried doing wut ur talking about with her husbands record and SSA said NOPE cant do it anymore!!

One additional consideration: tax implications. Since both of you are working and potentially drawing Social Security, be aware of how this might affect the taxation of your benefits. Up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxable depending on your combined income. This is another reason why delaying benefits while you continue to work can be advantageous - you avoid having benefits that would be subject to higher taxation during your working years.