Ask Terry Questions Social security – wife filing for spousal benefits

Social security – wife filing for spousal benefits

By Terry Savage on August 27, 2021 | Financial Planning / Retirement

Ms. Savage,
I would like your opinion on a Social Security question we have for my wife Donna. First, I’ll give you basic info. My name is Bob. I am 69 years old and am on Social Security and I net $2,136 monthly. My gross Social Security benefit monthly is $2,284.50. My wife (Donna) is 61 years old and will turn 62 in August of 2022.
At this time her SSA projections would be at Age 62 = $718, at 67 = $1107, and at 70 = $1430. Her income will be basically the same for these coming years. She makes about $21,000 yearly. Since I’m 8 years older than her we are thinking that she should file but under my benefits. I understand that if she files under my benefits she would get half of my current benefit is $2,284.50. This would make her benefit $1,142.85 vs $718.
This seems to be to our financial advantage. Would you agree? Or, am I misreading the Social Security rules on spousal benefits. Any thoughts or advice you can give us on this would be greatly appreciated.
I am semi-retired and we live on a tight budget. This extra money would help out now. The pandemic has dropped my earnings by about 90%. We are hoping it will eventually rebound.
Thank you,

Terry Says

Thanks for giving me all that info. But I have decided NOT to give specific advice about these complex situations, because even the people at Social Security can’t get their answers straight!
Instead, I suggest that anyone with a complex question go to www.MaximizemySocialSecurity.com and pay the $40 fee and get absolutely correct answers based on your specific situation. It’s well worth that small fee!

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