Ask the Expert: ‘File and suspend’ Social Security changes

I’ll be 66 next year and my wife is 65. Can I “file and suspend” Social Security so she gets a spousal benefit while I postpone my own until I’m 70? What happens if I do that and die before turning 70?

Under a new law, the “file and suspend’ option is available only until April 30, 2016.

“File and suspend” lets a couple postpone the bigger of their primary benefits while collecting a spousal benefit based on the higher earner’s record. Typically, the husband files for Social Security at 66. That lets his younger wife apply for a spousal benefit. He then immediately suspends his application. His postponed benefit grows 8 percent a year for up to four years. (If he dies between age 66 and age 70, his widow’s survivor benefit is the amount he was entitled to at his death, even if he wasn’t yet collecting it.)

But this soon-to-disappear strategy can only be used if one spouse is at least 66 years old and the other at least 62. The reason: 1) Spouse A must be at full retirement age to file and suspend his/her application for Social Security. 2) Spouse B can’t apply for a spousal benefit until he/she is at least 62 and his/her spouse has filed for a primary benefit.

Your wife is already over 62. If your 66th birthday is before April 30, 2016 and you act quickly, you can use this strategy. If not, you’re out of luck. Under the new rule, anyone who files and suspends his application after April 30, 2016 will also automatically suspend payment of all other benefits based on his earnings record. (NOTE: The new law doesn’t affect people who filed and suspended under the old rules.)

THE BOTTOM LINE Some popular Social Security options are disappearing.

WEBSITES WITH MORE INFORMATION nwsdy.li/ChangeSocSec and nwsdy.li/filesuspend