This Social Security Decision Could Make a Big Difference for Married Retirees

Being married isn’t always easy. You have to cater to someone else’s needs and make compromises on a frequent basis. You may also have to adjust some of your financial decisions to accommodate a spouse.

When it comes to Social Security, choosing a filing age can sometimes be trickier for married folks than singles. Here’s why.

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Why married couples need to claim Social Security carefully

The earliest age you can sign up for Social Security is 62. But if you want to collect your monthly benefits without a reduction, you’ll need to wait until full retirement age, which is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later.

You can also delayed Social Security past full retirement age for boosted monthly benefits. Each year you wait, until you turn 70, gives your benefits a permanent 8% increase. But that boost can be even more valuable for married folks than for singles.

The reason? In a married couple, when one spouse passes away, the surviving spouse is generally entitled to the larger of the two Social Security benefits the couple was receiving. If you’re the higher earner in your household and you delay Social Security, thereby locking in a larger benefit amount, you can leave your spouse with larger survivor benefits if you pass away before they do.

On the flipside, imagine you decide to claim Social Security early, reducing your monthly payments in the process. That decision won’t just impact you – it could leave your spouse with smaller survivor benefits for what could be many years.

Of course, it’s not a given that you should delay Social Security until age 70 to leave your spouse with a larger survivor benefit. It may be that your household can benefit from having that money arrive sooner for another reason. The key, rather, is to understand how one spouse’s filing decision could dictate what survivor benefits the other spouse ends up getting.

Make the choice together

When you’re married, it’s generally wise to make big financial decisions jointly. That means figuring out what sort of house to buy, what sort of withdrawal rate to apply to your retirement savings, and when to claim Social Security.

If you’re getting close to being ready to make that decision, sit down together and work through different filing scenarios to see what’s best for both of you. Taking the time to assess how different strategies could affect your income in the near term and the long term could help you file with more confidence and avoid regrets.