Ask the Expert: When can wife apply for a spousal benefit?
I don't consider myself a stupid person, but the Social Security system is making me think otherwise. I was born in February 1955. I don't plan to take my Social Security benefit until age 70. My wife was born in August 1957, and we're trying to figure out when she should take her spousal benefit. The Social Security website gives conflicting answers about her full retirement age. Should she wait until I begin at 70, or would that be leaving money on the table?
The complexity of Social Security rules can frustrate the most intelligent online researcher. Speaking to a representative at the agency’s local office is often more productive.
Your wife will have to wait until you’re 70 to claim her spousal benefit, because she won’t qualify for that benefit until you’ve filed for Social Security.
She’ll then be 68 years old — past her FRA (66 years and 6 months) — and she’ll qualify for the maximum spousal benefit. That’s half the amount you were eligible to receive at your own FRA (66 years and two months) plus inflation adjustments.
Postponing Social Security for four years increases your FRA benefit by 32% (plus inflation adjustments) in yearly 8% delayed-retirement credits. Those credits are never added to spousal benefits. But they are included in a survivor's benefit. As a widow, your wife would receive a benefit equal to the amount you were collecting — or were eligible to collect — at your death. For example, if you died at 69 before applying for Social Security, her survivor benefit would include 24% in delayed retirement credits for the three years that had passed since you reached your FRA.
The bottom line
You can't collect a spousal benefit until your husband or wife has filed for Social Security.
