‘I’m leaving money on the table’: I’m 64 and my husband is 70. Should I take spousal benefits or wait for my own?

The Moneyist ‘I’m leaving money on the table’: I’m 64 and my husband is 70. Should I take spousal benefits or wait for my own? ‘I paid a significant amount into Social Security’ Dear Quentin, I am hoping you can provide some guidance because I am very confused about my Social Security options. I’m afraid I’m leaving money on the table, but I do not want to make a decision now that could reduce my retirement income later. I am 64 and my husband is 70. I worked in the private sector and at a university for most of my career, so I paid a significant amount into Social Security. I want to make sure I understand my options before I make a decision that could affect my retirement income. My husband is currently receiving Social Security benefits, although he is still working. I am wondering whether I should apply for spousal benefits now or wait until I reach my full retirement age of 67 — or possibly wait until age 70 to claim my own Social Security benefit. Spousal benefit and pension I am currently working as a high school SDC (Special Day Class) special-education teacher for a school district in southern California. This is my fourth year teaching, and I began contributing to the CalSTRS pension as soon as I started working in the district. Don’t Short Yourself Free Weekly Newsletter Don’t Short Yourself offers weekly money tips to help you earn it, stack it and grow it. 1. Can I apply for a spousal Social Security benefit now and receive up to 50% of my husband’s Social Security benefit? If I begin receiving a spousal benefit before my full retirement age (FRA), will that reduce the amount of my own Social Security retirement benefit later? 2. Would it make more sense for me to wait until age 67 to receive a full spousal benefit? Alternatively, should I wait until age 70 to claim my own Social Security benefit? How will my CalSTRS pension affect my Social Security benefits, if at all? Wife & Teacher Don’t miss: ‘I plan to exit corporate life’: I’m 50 and have $400,000. My wife is a teacher. Can I retire at 55? You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions at qfottrell@marketwatch.com. The Moneyist regrets he cannot reply to questions individually. Dear Wife, I’ve good news, bad news, complex news and in-between news. First, the good news: The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in January 2025, repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). Your pension from a job not covered by Social Security, including certain public-sector pensions, will no longer trigger those reductions in Social Security. However, your Social Security benefit will still be based on your earnings record covered by Social Security. If you paid into Social Security for the last 30-plus years, chances are you won’t need to apply for spousal benefits. But I wouldn’t assume that your own benefit is larger. You would, at the most, receive 50% of your husband’s benefit. That 50% is based on his primary insurance amount. The long answer is that you must abide by the “deemed-filing rule.” When you apply for your own benefit (or a spousal or divorced benefit) you are automatically “deemed” to have applied for both. You cannot apply for one, and switch to the other one later. Switching to or from spousal benefits was effectively eliminated in 2015. In practice, Social Security pays your own benefit first, and if your spousal benefit is larger, tops it up to that amount. That’s known as “spousal excess,” the amount you receive when 50% of your spouse’s full-retirement-age benefit is higher than your own benefit. But you never receive both as two separate benefits. Switching was effectively eliminated by Congress in 2015. Those born on or before Jan. 1, 1954, are the exception and may still be able to use the old “restricted application” strategy and collect only spousal benefits while delaying their own retirement benefit until age 70. At 64, you were born after that cutoff, so that strategy is not available to you. Here’s a quick recap for spousal-benefit rules: In addition to receiving up to 50% of your higher-earning spouse’s retirement benefit, divorced spouses qualify if the marriage lasted at least 10 years and they are currently unmarried, among other requirements. Another important caveat: If you claim Social Security before reaching FRA and you are still working, your wages can lead to some of your benefits to be withheld. In 2026, the limit for someone below FRA for the entire year is $24,480, with $1 in benefits withheld for every $2 earned above that amount. Social Security adjusts your benefit at FRA to account for those months during which your benefits were withheld because of excess earnings. Survivor benefits Survivor benefits work differently, and don’t apply to your situation. (For other readers: A divorced spouse who remarries after age 60 — or after 50, if disabled — can still claim survivor benefits on an ex-spouse’s record, as long as the marriage lasted 10 years, among other requirements.) Those surviving spouses, at full retirement age (FRA) or older, generally get 100% of their late spouse’s basic benefit amount. A surviving spouse, age 60 or older, but under FRA, gets between 71% and 99% of their late spouse’s basic benefit amount. Bottom line: Spousal benefits stop growing at your FRA. There’s no delayed-retirement-credit bonus for waiting on a spousal benefit past 67 the way there is for your own benefit. Only your record keeps accruing delayed retirement credits — generally 8% per year for someone with an FRA of 67 — after 67 up to 70. Social Security spousal benefits stop growing at your full retirement age. You have three options: First, if you claim now at 64, your benefit is permanently reduced, and because of the aforementioned deeming rules. And because you are still working, the aforementioned earnings test could further reduce what you actually receive before FRA. (At 70, your husband is pat his own earnings-test window.) Do this if you need income now. If not, wait. Second, if you wait until 67, your full retirement age, you get your own retirement benefit, plus a spousal excess if 50% of your husband’s full-retirement-age benefit is higher. Again, you only get that combined retirement and spousal benefit, not two full benefits. Third, waiting until 70 pays off if your own retirement benefit, boosted by those delayed retirement credits, surpasses the 50% spousal benefit you would have received at 67, given that spousal benefits don’t get any bigger after your FRA. So before making a decision, stress-test three numbers: your estimated Social Security benefit at 64, 67 and 70, and separately calculate 50% of your husband’s FRA benefit. You will also have to factor in your current teacher’s salary and the earnings test. You should get a pretty good answer. A fee-only certified financial planner (CFP) should be able to help. After that, you’ll know exactly what to do. By emailing your questions to The Moneyist or posting your dilemmas on The Moneyist Facebook group, you agree to have them published anonymously on MarketWatch. More columns from Quentin Fottrell: Check out The Moneyist’s private Facebook group, where members help answer life’s thorniest money issues. 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