Social Security Strategies For Married Couples

When should you take Social Security? For married couples, deciding when to start Social Security benefits is a complex analysis. This isn’t just a need-based strategy either. After all, benefits are earned by paying into the system. For married couples with unequal historical earnings, it may make sense for the lower income spouse to file earlier. Here’s an overview of Social Security benefits for workers and spouses and some factors to consider in a joint claiming strategy.

Key Factors To Consider:

Benefits each spouse is entitled to, on their own work record and as a spouse
Ages of each partner, age gap, health and life expectancy
Resources outside of Social Security
Cash needs
Legacy goals

How Social Security Benefits Work For Couples

Components of a Social Security benefit

Your own retirement benefit (based on your earnings history). The full benefit, called your primary insurance amount (PIA), is available when you reach your full retirement age (FRA)
A spousal benefit (calculated on the spouse’s PIA retirement benefit, or if both have retirement benefits, the excess spousal benefit if greater)
Survivor benefits (calculated on the deceased spouse’s retirement benefit)

In practice, Social Security pays the higher of: your own retirement benefit, half of your spouse’s full retirement age retirement benefit (PIA) or the excess spousal benefit, if living, or your survivor benefits (if widowed). Survivors can get 100% of the benefits their late spouse was receiving. However, these payments are reduced when survivors file (or are deemed to have filed) before full retirement age.

Deemed Filing

If your spouse is already getting Social Security when you file, you’re subject to the deemed filing rule. Again, when you file for Social Security, you receive the highest benefit you are entitled to.

Disclosure: this article is for informational purposes only and should not be misinterpreted as personalized advice of any kind or a recommendation for any specific investment product, financial or tax strategy. This is a general communication and should not be used as the basis for making any type of tax, financial, legal, or investment decision. Contact the Social Security Administration to discuss your situation, benefits, and options.

Benefits By Age Claimed

For simplicity, the figures below are applicable for individuals born in 1960 and later. Full retirement age and reduction percentages vary slightly for older workers.

Social security filing strategies for married couples depend on many factors. Notably, the benefit each spouse may be entitled to and the age that benefit is claimed. When a worker files for benefits early, their benefits are permanently reduced. However, spousal benefits are calculated using the PIA at full retirement age. So spousal benefits will not be reduced unless the spouse claims benefits before their full retirement age.

As many are aware, retirement benefits (on your earnings history) increase 8% per year when delayed past full retirement age, until 70. For couples, there’s one key caveat: the maximum spousal benefit is half of their partner’s PIA at full retirement age. Delaying Social Security past FRA will not increase spousal benefits, though it could boost survivor benefits as the surviving spouse.

Retirement Benefit

Retirement benefits are based on your own earnings record
Earliest retirement: at age 62: 70% of full benefit
At full retirement age (FRA): 100% of benefit, also known as the primary insurance amount (or PIA)
Delayed benefits: 8% per year until age 70 (108% of full benefit at age 68, 116% at 69, and 124% at 70)

Spousal Benefit

Earliest retirement: at age 62: 32.5% of full spousal benefit (PIA)
See note on excess spousal benefits below for couples who each have their own retirement benefits
At full retirement age (FRA): 100% of spousal benefits (50% of the worker’s PIA)
Delayed benefits: no increase

Survivor Benefit

Generally, up to 100% of the deceased spouse’s actual retirement benefit (as though they were still living)
Also, if a surviving spouse claims spousal benefits early and the worker dies before the spouse reaches their own full retirement age, their survivor benefit would be reduced as spousal/retirement benefits are typically automatically converted. Importantly, even if the deceased spouse filed for retirement benefits after reaching their full retirement age, survivor benefits can still be reduced if the widow(er) files before their own FRA
Survivors should work with the Social Security office to discuss their options as the rules are complex. For example, an earnings limit can apply, or in some situations, it may be possible to delay survivor benefits by starting with your own retirement benefit, or vice versa

Excess Spousal Benefit

When both spouses are eligible for their own retirement benefit, spousal benefits will come in the form of an excess spousal benefit or top-off, if larger than their own benefit. Excess spousal benefits are calculated using both partner’s PIAs at full retirement age, so if one spouse files early and receives a reduced retirement benefit, they won’t recover that ‘gap’ later on.

Simple hypothetical example

Devon and Scottie are 62, married, with a FRA of 67. Devon has a PIA of $1,000/month and files at 62, receiving a retirement benefit of $700/month. Scottie’s PIA is $4,000/month, so the maximum spousal benefit is $2,000. If Scottie files after 67, Devon’s excess spousal benefit would be $1,000, for a combined benefit of $1,700. Calculated as: the maximum spousal benefit of $2,000 minus Devon’s PIA of $1,000. The excess benefit does not take into account that Devon filed early and is only receiving $700 per month.

Alternate filing situations

If Devon waited until his full retirement age, his total benefit would be $2,000/month. Calculated as his own PIA of $1,000 plus the $1,000 excess spousal benefit
If Devon did not have his own retirement benefit, he would receive $2,000/month in spousal benefits when Scottie filed at 67
Because of the deemed filing rules, if Scottie claims before Devon reaches full retirement age, Devon’s spousal benefits will be reduced, too

Social Security Strategies For Couples

Here are some key factors to consider when trying to maximize Social Security benefits for married couples.

Longevity

Finding the breakeven age for various claiming strategies is a key part of the analysis. Longevity determines the likelihood that one or both spouses will live past the breakeven age.

Here are some key longevity statistics, according to the American Academy of Actuaries and Society of Actuaries Longevity Illustrator, (accessed 10/21/2025). Unless otherwise noted, the data below is based on a 60-year-old couple today, both nonsmokers in average health.

There’s a 66% probability of the woman living until 85. For men, it is 55%
The probability of living until 90 drops to 45% and 34%, respectively
The odds that at least one spouse is living at age 85 is 84%. This drops to 64% at age 90
The chances of both spouses living at 85 is 36%. This falls to 15% at 90
Note that longevity is considerably higher if excellent health was used instead of average

In terms of actuarial averages, the Social Security Administration reports that a woman age 60 today is projected to live until 86.3 versus 83.3 for men.

Couples With Different Lifetime Earnings

When couples have unequal earnings records, it can make sense to consider starting the partner with the lower retirement benefit early or first. As a simple example, using the excess spousal benefit example above (Devon claims his benefit at 62 and spousal at FRA), and assuming a 2.5% annual cost of living adjustment, by filing early, Devon would have received over $44,000 in cumulative retirement benefits by the time he turns 67. For simplicity, we are assuming he gets a full year of benefits in every year.

Breakeven

In this example, the breakeven age when compared to a scenario where Devon waits until FRA before filing for either benefit is 77
By age 85, assuming both spouses are living, Devon would have received roughly $42,000 more by waiting until 67

Survivor considerations

Survivor benefit rules are another reason to consider possibly starting benefits early for the lower earner. In most cases, the benefits the lower earner was receiving, or entitled to receive, are lost as the survivor can collect benefits as though they were the deceased (subject to the limitations discussed at the beginning of this article)
In this example, if Devon dies first, Scottie will continue to receive his own retirement benefit. In another words, the retirement and spousal excess benefits Devon was getting will be lost
If Scottie dies first, Devon would step into Scottie’s benefits as they are greater than Devon’s. Generally, if Scottie both files and dies after full retirement age, Devon’s benefits won’t be reduced (they are the same age). But in most cases the outcome will be the same: the retirement and spousal excess benefits Devon was getting will be lost

There are so many combinations and permutations of this analysis. But, it illustrates how filing early may be worth the trade-off for some.

Investment Portfolio Implications

Retirees need income from somewhere to support their lifestyle. So delaying Social Security means most retirees need to take more from investment assets earlier in life. The decision to start or delay Social Security has several implications for couples’ retirement savings — adding to the complexity, the list is mixed.

Because of sequence of returns risk, investors facing a market downturn at the beginning of retirement are at greater risk of running out of money
Investment returns aren’t guaranteed, but Social Security offers an 8% annual increase to delay benefits after FRA
When parents die, they can’t leave their unused Social Security benefits to their adult children. But they can leave their IRAs and other investments to heirs. A claiming strategy (early or late) could serve to increase an eventual inheritance, but ultimately it will depend on a host of other factors such as longevity of both spouses, investment returns, COLA adjustments, taxes, and so forth
For many retirees, spending down retirement assets is difficult after a lifetime of saving. Unfortunately, this discomfort sometimes means retirees spend far less than their resources permit, at the expense of lifestyle comforts or lifelong financial goals. A 2025 study from the Retirement Income Institute found that retirees spend about 80% of lifetime income (like Social Security) but only about 50% of their other resources, such as retirement accounts. So although it may not improve an investor’s bottom line, if claiming Social Security early improves their life, it’s a tradeoff worth considering.

Final Considerations

With so many possible outcomes and nuances to consider, couples seeking to maximize their combined Social Security benefits need to run a personal analysis in light of their entire financial situation and goals. It is also important to consider knock-on effects. For example, a multi-year Roth conversion strategy that otherwise made sense could be easily thwarted by Social Security checks. Ultimately, though, we can’t predict the future. So the best thing couples can do is understand their options, the risks, and make an informed decision.

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