Switching to a spouse's higher Social Security benefit

Let’s say spouses, the same age, both reach full retirement age (FRA) at 67. If the higher-earning spouse waits until 70 to file for Social Security, can the lower earner take their own benefit at 67, and then switch to a spousal benefit at 70?

Yes — if the spousal benefit is the larger amount. Nobody can collect their own benefit and a spousal benefit at the same time, but spouses who fit your hypothetical scenario can collect them in sequence.

Let’s call the high earner Jack and the lower earner Jill. Both reach FRA at 67. Jack postpones Social Security for three years. That delay boosts his benefit by about 24 percent in Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs).

Jill files for her benefit at 67. When someone files for Social Security, they’re automatically applying for all the benefits they’re entitled to receive. They get the bigger one and they can’t reapply for either benefit in the future. In many cases, that dooms your scenario. But at 67, Jill is only filing for her own benefit, because she won’t qualify for a spousal benefit until Jack has filed for Social Security.

When he files at 70, she can apply for a spousal benefit. Her maximum spousal benefit is half the amount Jack was entitled to receive at his FRA, not half of his enhanced benefit. That’s because spousal benefits don’t include DRCs, although survivor benefits do.

The strategy you’ve described was once more widely available. Social Security rules used to let people who applied at FRA restrict their applications to their own benefit and postpone their spousal benefit, or vice versa. But restricted applications are no longer allowed for anyone born after Jan. 1, 1954.

The bottom line

Couples can sometimes maximize their total Social Security benefits by carefully timing their applications.

More information

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