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January 4, 2017
Category:
Will I Have A Choice Between My Own Benefits And Spousal Benefits At Age 66?
My wife (age 63) took her SS benefits at age 62. I am now 64 (born 1952) and will wait until age 66 to collect full retirement SS benefits. At age 66, do I have the choice of collecting half of my spouse's benefits and suspend mine until age 70? Or, do I not have a choice, I must take all mine.
Hi,
Yes, since you were born prior to January 2 1954, you can still choose to file for spousal benefits only at age 66 and allow your own benefit rate to grow until age 70 (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/deemedfaq.html). You wouldn't want to file and suspend benefits on your own record, though. That would prevent you from receiving spousal benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/suspendfaq.html).
You may want to consider running the maximization software available on this website in order to fully explore all of your filing options.
Best, Jerry