Your wife's earned income has nothing to do with your social security benefits. If your wife is under her full retirement age, then she can only have no more than $1,860 or so in earned income per month or 45 hours of self-employed work in order to keep her social security benefits. But you can collect your regular benefits as only as you don't earn more the $1860/mo or work for more than 45 hours. Whether you two file separately or jointly is irrelevant. You are correct that "her income [does] not count toward my income regarding ssa benefits."
