5 social security claiming options for married couples

The file-and-suspend window closed April 30, 2016; since then, if a retiree suspended their Social Security benefit, their mate’s spousal benefit was suspended, too. Since the start of this

year, choosing to get a spousal benefit to delay your retirement claim is also prohibited, except in very limited circumstances. There are still ways couples can tailor their Social

Security strategy based on factors such as their age, health and finances. There’s no one right method; everyone must determine what works best for them. That takes planning and preparation,

says Jim Blair, lead consultant for Premier Social Security Consulting in Cincinnati. Couples “plan for weddings, we plan vacations. This is something you’re going to receive the rest of

your life,” he says. “Take some time and plan for it.” Here are five options to consider. BOTH SPOUSES WAIT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE Up until age 70, “the longer you wait to claim, the more

you’re going to get,” says Martha Shedden, president of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts. If both parties can wait that long, they’re going to maximize their

total income for the rest of their lives, she says. By how much? Say you were born in 1962. You can claim retirement benefits in 2024 — 62 is the minimum age — but you’ll get as little as 70

percent of your “full” benefit amount. You’ll get 100 percent if you claim at your full retirement age of 67. But you’ll get 124 percent if you put it off until age 70. This strategy might

be particularly beneficial in households where both partners have similar earnings records and spousal benefits don’t come into play (since you can only get them if your spouse had

considerably higher earnings than you). Of course, it assumes you can afford to wait. People who can’t keep working until age 70 for health or other reasons, or who don’t have enough saved

to tide them over, might need their Social Security income earlier. BOTH CLAIM EARLY Sometimes maximizing Social Security income isn’t a couple’s top priority. If you or your spouse has a

large nest egg to draw from or other sources of steady income (a pension, for example), you might not need the biggest possible benefit to retire securely. In this case, you could opt to

stop work, claim Social Security early and spend your time doing other things. You’d still be getting some benefit income to supplement other assets and help maintain your lifestyle. Just be

sure those other assets provide security for the long term, because you’re locking in that smaller benefit for the rest of your lives. SPLIT STRATEGY What’s best for one partner isn’t

always best for the other. Sometimes it makes sense for one spouse to delay benefits while the other starts collecting early or at full retirement age. For example, if one spouse stops

working to take on caregiving duties, they could claim their benefit to have an income while the other stays in the workforce longer and collects a bigger Social Security payment later.

Another reason one partner might claim early is if the couple have an adult child with a disability that developed before the age of 22. That child might qualify for benefits based on the

parents’ work records, as long as one parent is already receiving benefits, Blair notes.