Social Security Q&A: Can I File and Suspend at 62 so My Spouse, 69, Can Claim Spousal Benefits?, Social Security may be your largest or one of your largest assets. How you manage it, by deciding which benefits to collect and when, can make an absolutely huge difference to your lifetime benefits. And those with the highest past covered earnings have the most to gain from maximizing their Social Security.
I’ve been answering questions and writing columns about Social Security each week for the past two years on PBS NEWSHOUR’s website. The editors at Forbes asked me to post a Q&A each day from those columns. To see all my columns, please go to my software company’s site, www.maximizemysocialsecurity.com, and click More Press below the WSJ quote.
Today’s question asks if it’s possible to file and suspend before full retirement age to enable the spouse to claim a spouse’s benefit. The answer first reviews the rules for filing and suspending and then explores the effects of the earnings test and the adjustment of the reduction factor, the possible effect on Part A Medicare coverage, and a way to file early and later recoup much of the reductions incurred by doing so.
Question: I will be 62 next year. My wife is 69. The only Social Security benefit that she qualifies for is as my spouse. Can I file and suspend so that she begins to get her spousal benefit? I’m still working. How much will she receive? I’ve done a lot of reading and research but have not been able to find an answer that fits our circumstance. Thanks.
Answer: You can’t file and suspend before full retirement age, which is 66 for you. The only way to get your wife a spousal benefit (which would equal half of your full retirement benefit) based on your earnings record is for you to file to collect reduced retirement benefits right now. But if you are still working, your reduced retirement benefit and her spousal benefit may both be reduced or wiped out by the earnings test. If the earnings test wipes out your benefits, it will be made up to you in the form of permanently higher benefits once you reach full retirement age. In this case, you don’t really lose anything from the earnings test, but you will permit your wife to become eligible for Part A Medicare coverage when you reach age 62.
One strategy to consider is filing for reduced benefits sometime prior to reaching age 66 and then suspending your retirement benefit at 66 and starting it up at a 32 percent larger value at 70.
I’ve been answering questions and writing columns about Social Security each week for the past two years on PBS NEWSHOUR’s website. The editors at Forbes asked me to post a Q&A each day from those columns. To see all my columns, please go to my software company’s site, www.maximizemysocialsecurity.com, and click More Press below the WSJ quote.Today’s question asks if it’s possible to file and suspend before full retirement age to enable the spouse to claim a spouse’s benefit. The answer first reviews the rules for filing and suspending and then explores the effects of the earnings test and the adjustment of the reduction factor, the possible effect on Part A Medicare coverage, and a way to file early and later recoup much of the reductions incurred by doing so.
Question: I will be 62 next year. My wife is 69. The only Social Security benefit that she qualifies for is as my spouse. Can I file and suspend so that she begins to get her spousal benefit? I’m still working. How much will she receive? I’ve done a lot of reading and research but have not been able to find an answer that fits our circumstance. Thanks.
Answer: You can’t file and suspend before full retirement age, which is 66 for you. The only way to get your wife a spousal benefit (which would equal half of your full retirement benefit) based on your earnings record is for you to file to collect reduced retirement benefits right now. But if you are still working, your reduced retirement benefit and her spousal benefit may both be reduced or wiped out by the earnings test. If the earnings test wipes out your benefits, it will be made up to you in the form of permanently higher benefits once you reach full retirement age. In this case, you don’t really lose anything from the earnings test, but you will permit your wife to become eligible for Part A Medicare coverage when you reach age 62.
One strategy to consider is filing for reduced benefits sometime prior to reaching age 66 and then suspending your retirement benefit at 66 and starting it up at a 32 percent larger value at 70.
