On Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 6:50:04 AM UTC-8,
renor...@hotmail.com wrote:
> I am age 65 (DOB 10/01/1950) and my wife is 63 (DOB 10/23/1952). Prior to the November 2 changes to the Social Security law, our preferred plan had been for my wife to claim her benefit in June 2016, followed by my restricted filing in September 2016 (my full retirement age) for a spousal benefit. This would allow my own benefit to grow for 4 years until I claim it at age 70. Under the new law, my understanding is that this strategy is still viable for us since we are grandfathered because of our ages.
Not quite unaffected. There were two changes: One -- if you file-and-suspend, nobody may claim spousal benefits anymore on your suspended benefits. If you want your wife to collect spousal benefits, you need to file *and* collect -- meaning that you need to decide which is more important -- spousal benefits or the increase in your benefit you get from delaying. This change affects anyone born after May 1, 1950 -- so it affects you.
And two -- for the one potentially claiming spousal benefits -- one may no longer wait until full retirement age and then select the lower of the two benefits and then switch to the higher one at age 70. (This was called "deeming"). This change affects those born on or after Jan 1, 1954. So this change does *not* affect you guys.
> However, the Nov. 16 article "Social Security: Do you need to change your filing strategy?" on Vanguard.com adds this wrinkle:
>
> "If you're already 62 or are turning 62 this year, you'll still be able to file a restricted application to receive only spousal benefits at your full retirement age, provided your spouse is either receiving or has filed for and suspended benefits within 180 days of the law's enactment."
That's the second rule I noted -- so long as you are collecting benefits, she may file a restricted application for the lower of her benefits and then switch to the other benefit when she turns 70.
> Does this mean that my wife cannot wait until June to file, but must claim prior to May 2016 (180 days from Nov. 2, 2015) in order for me to to be allowed to file for my restricted spousal benefit at age 66? (If so, my ability to claim the spousal benefit is well worth the small reduction in my wife's monthly payout if she has to file a couple of months earlier than planned. I just don't want to risk missing an important deadline!)
Her restricted filing deadline is based on when *you* apply for your benefits -- but you must be collecting benefits -- not delaying -- in order for her to collect those spousal benefits.
The truth is that without walking through the actual numbers for you guys -- your earnings histories, ages, expected future earnings (if any), and -- most importantly (and unfortunately impossible to really know) -- what dates of death to use for the model -- without all that information, it's impossible to truly optimize your benefits.
We use sophisticated software to model all that (and factor it all in with a family's entire financial picture) in order to make recommendations -- but even than, we still usually run multiple scenarios with varying dates of death (both young, one old/one young, vice-versa, and both old). However, unless (a) the family doesn't have enough assets to cover costs while delaying; or (b) we have reason to think one or both will die young -- we usually prefer to err on the side of assuming both will live to ripe old ages (i.e., over 90).
If you're not certain about how those rules apply, I strongly encourage you to either use one of the online modeling systems -- and/or consult with a qualified fee-only *hourly* financial planner. (Not many planners will do one-off or hourly work -- most require you to turn over assets for ongoing management -- but there are planners who do this kind of thing.)