Q: My spouse retired under FERS as federal firefighter. When his FERS suppplement stopped at age 62, he filed for early Social Security benefits. As a FERS employee, I plan to retire with 30 years at age 59. I will receive the FERS supplement until age 62. I plan to wait until my full retirement age of 66 years 2 months to consider filing for Social Security. My questions are, (1) at my Social Security full retirement age, can I file a restricted application for my spouse’s Social Security benefit and delay filing for my own Social Security benefit until age 70, allowing my benefit to continue to grow?; (2) if I am allowed to file a restricted application for my spouse’s Social Security benefit at age 66.2, will my benefit be half of what my spouse currently receives as a result of his filing early at age 62, or will my benefit be half of what his benefit would have been at his full retirement age?
A: You can file a restricted application for spousal Social Security benefits at you full retirement age and delay applying for your own until age 70 to take advantage of delayed retirement credits.
At your full retirement age, your spousal benefits will be 1/2 of your spouses full retirement age benefits.
Social Security has helpful information on their website, http://www.socialsecurity.gov. I double checked my answers using their FAQ section.
