Can I file and suspend my Social Security benefits at age 66 and draw spouse benefit only while my wife at age 63 collects her spouse benefits?

Q. Can I file and suspend my benefits at age 66 and draw spouse benefit only while my wife at age 63 collects her spouse benefits (37.5% of my FRA benefit) while I take DRC’s to age 70? In other words can both people be drawing spouse benefits on each other at the same time?

A. Only one member of a couple can apply for Social Security benefits as a dependent spouse.

At or after 66, you will have the option of filing for your Social Security benefit and then suspending that benefit if you so choose. Your benefit would continue to increase until you reached age 70 unless begun sooner.

Any application your wife files before her full retirement age would apply to both her own benefit and her spouse benefit. She would, in effect, receive whichever of the two benefits was the greater amount. If she waits until she is 66 to file for a benefit, your wife may file for a spouse benefit only. In that case, her benefit also would increase to age 70.