Q&A: When couples should take Social Security

Q: I will be 66 in May 2015 and my wife will be 62 in June 2015. I am four years older. My wife will start her Social Security at age 62. I will draw a spousal benefit after she files. Then, I'll will wait until age 70 to take my Social Security. Thoughts? Michael Rump , Saginaw, Mich.

A: This is a good strategy.

But if your spouse and you each have long life expectancies, it will not give your household the most lifetime benefits because your wife is taking a reduction by filing at 62, says Elaine Floyd, a certified financial planner and director of retirement and life planning at Horsesmouth, a New York City-based firm that provides education and news to financial advisers.

"In the long run, the four years of spousal benefits for you may not make up for that reduction," Floyd says. "To maximize benefits when both spouses might be expected to live a long time, the wife should file at 66."

According to Floyd, if your wife's maximum benefit with delayed credits (that is, her primary insurance amount times 1.32) would be higher than her spousal benefit (your primary insurance amount x .50), she should file a restricted application for the spousal benefit at 66 and switch to her own maximum benefit at 70.

And then you should file at 70 as planned, says Floyd.

Robert Powell is editor of Retirement Weekly, contributes regularly to Paste BN, The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch and teaches at Boston University.