Fred is 68 and collecting Social Security. His wife Lisa will be 66 in the spring and plans to retire. To maximize her Social Security, Lisa is considering filing for spousal benefits at 66 and then delaying the filing for her benefits until her full retirement age of 70. She is wondering if this is something that she can do, and for the rest of 2019, the answer is yes!

However, due to changes in the Social Security rules that were signed into law in November 2015, Congress is phasing out the Social Security strategy known as “Claim Now, Claim More Later” at the end of 2019. Luckily, it is only February, and there are 11 months left to take advantage of this strategy.

How the “Claim Now, Claim More Later” Strategy Works