Marriage can change many aspects of your life. But while you probably know many of the ways in which your spouse has shaped your world, you may not realize that your marital status should also affect your claim for Social Security retirement benefits.
Here's why your decisions surrounding Social Security may be different if you have a spouse, rather than if you're on your own.
Image source: Getty Images.
Married couples have many different Social Security claiming strategies
Being married can make a profound impact on when you should start getting your Social Security retirement benefits, because your decisions can directly affect the amount of money that both you and your spouse have to live on as retirees. You can't just decide what's best for you, but you also must think about how your choices will affect your partner.
Here's why: Both survivor benefits and spousal benefits from the Social Security Administration can be based on a partner's work history and can sometimes result in a higher benefit for a partner who didn't work much or who doesn't qualify for Social Security retirement checks.
See, your spouse could get spousal benefits worth as much as 50% of your primary insurance amount (your standard Social Security benefit), depending on when he or she first claims a check. But, your spouse can't file for spousal benefits until you claim your own retirement benefits. So while you may want to put off a claim for retirement checks as the amount you get increases for each year you wait beyond 62, doing so could mean your spouse must wait to begin spousal benefits, too.
Your spouse could also get survivor benefits if you pass away first. Survivor benefits could equal up to 100% of your benefit. Unfortunately, if you retired any time before age 70, you wouldn't have maximized your benefit, and thus you would have potentially reduced the survivor benefits your partner would be eligible for. This could leave your spouse facing a financial shock, especially since your death would mean that now only one Social Security payment comes into the house each month instead of the two that were coming while you were still alive.
Consider your spouse when deciding when to claim your benefits
These are just two examples of the ways in which your spouse's needs could affect your decision about when to claim benefits. If you want to open up the door to spousal benefits ASAP, you would need to claim your checks early. On the other hand, if you wanted to maximize survivor benefits, you would need to claim your checks later.
The right approach depends on your needs. If your spouse could get a lower benefit based on his or her own work record and enable you to delay your claim to increase survivor benefits, this may be a good approach, as your spouse could eventually switch to the higher spousal benefit once you do claim your retirement checks. But if you really need both your check and spousal benefits coming into the house sooner, this approach won't work for you.
Ultimately, you should think about how your decision to file for benefits at a given age affects your partner and aim to choose a claiming strategy that maximizes both your lifetime income and the income available when you need it most.
