When it comes to claiming Social Security, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. The right filing age for one person may not be right for another with a different savings level or life expectancy.
But as a couple, you have a prime opportunity to make the most of Social Security. That's because you can stagger your claims at different ages in a manner that works for you.
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One common Social Security strategy couples tend to use is the 62/70 split. It has one person filing for Social Security at the earliest possible age of 62 and the other filing at 70 for the maximum benefit boost.
It's a strategy that may work well for your household. But you don't necessarily have to stick to it in the traditional sense.
How the 62/70 split generally works
Before we talk about this specific strategy, let's do a quick refresher on claiming Social Security:
- If you were born in 1960 or later, your get your monthly benefits without a reduction at age 67, also known as full retirement age.
- Filing before full retirement age reduces your benefits permanently. The earlier you file, the larger the reduction.
- Delaying your claim past full retirement boosts your benefits by 8% a year until you turn 70.
With that in mind, the idea behind the 62/70 split is pretty simple. Usually, the lower earner in the household claims Social Security at the earliest possible age of 62. That provides some immediate income.
Meanwhile, the higher-earning spouse delays Social Security until 70. That way, the larger benefit gets a 24% boost, assuming a full retirement age of 67.
That larger benefit doesn't just help while both spouses are alive. It also sets the stage for larger survivor benefits.
If the lower earner in the household is likely to outlive the higher earner, then it often pays for the higher earner to delay Social Security as long as possible. That way, the lower earner's benefit gets bumped up substantially once the higher earner passes away.
Having the higher earner delay his or her claim might also give you more inflation protection. A cost-of-living adjustment applied to a delayed benefit that was larger to begin with could better help you keep up with rising costs as a couple.
You can also do the opposite
While the 62/70 split usually has the lower earner claiming Social Security early and the higher earner delaying, you don't have to do things this way. You could instead have the higher earner take benefits at 62 so you have more money to spend at a time when you both may want to maximize good health.
Let's say you and your spouse have saved well for retirement. You both want to retire at 62 and spend the next few years traveling.
Even with a robust IRA or 401(k), you may not want to withdraw too much from your savings early on in retirement. But you also may not want to delay your travel plans.
If the higher earner files for Social Security early, even with a steep reduction, that might still result in more income than what you'd get from the lower earner filing on time. And if you don't want to put plans on hold, it could pay to take the higher benefit sooner.
Another point to consider
It's not always the case that in a given couple, there's a clear higher versus lower earner. It may be that you and your spouse earned similar salaries throughout your careers and are therefore in line for pretty similar benefits.
In that case, you could decide to have one of you file early while the other files late, but it may not matter so much which of you files when -- especially if you expect to have relatively equal lifespans.
Remember, no matter how you put the 62/70 strategy to work, the goal is to have it benefit both of you equally. It makes sense to play around with different filing scenarios to see which one is optimal for you as a couple.
