the survivor keeps one check
If you're married, the survivor keeps one check, and the higher earner's claim age decides which.
When one of you dies, Social Security stops one of your two checks.
The survivor keeps the larger of the two, and the smaller one ends.
So the higher earner's claiming age sets the income floor for whoever lives longer, often by 8 to 12 years.
The math.
Say your full benefit at 67 is $3,000 a month.
Wait until 70 and it grows 8% a year, to $3,720.
That's $720 more every month, with cost-of-living raises stacked on top.
And that higher number becomes the survivor's floor, the amount your spouse lives on after you're gone.
This is why the claiming age isn't just a bet on your own lifespan.
Even if you wait until 70 and die at 72, those three years weren't wasted.
You permanently raised the check your spouse collects for the rest of their life.
The lower earner can still claim early to bring in cash sooner.
It's the higher earner's benefit that's worth protecting, because that's the one the survivor keeps.
If you're the higher earner and in decent health, delay your own benefit to 70, and ask SSA or your advisor to compare the survivor's monthly check at 67 versus 70.
That one comparison shows you the floor you're setting for whoever lives longer.
As promised, income over wealth in under a minute.
- Dan
When one of you dies, Social Security stops one of your two checks.
The survivor keeps the larger of the two, and the smaller one ends.
So the higher earner's claiming age sets the income floor for whoever lives longer, often by 8 to 12 years.
The math.
Say your full benefit at 67 is $3,000 a month.
Wait until 70 and it grows 8% a year, to $3,720.
That's $720 more every month, with cost-of-living raises stacked on top.
And that higher number becomes the survivor's floor, the amount your spouse lives on after you're gone.
This is why the claiming age isn't just a bet on your own lifespan.
Even if you wait until 70 and die at 72, those three years weren't wasted.
You permanently raised the check your spouse collects for the rest of their life.
The lower earner can still claim early to bring in cash sooner.
It's the higher earner's benefit that's worth protecting, because that's the one the survivor keeps.
If you're the higher earner and in decent health, delay your own benefit to 70, and ask SSA or your advisor to compare the survivor's monthly check at 67 versus 70.
That one comparison shows you the floor you're setting for whoever lives longer.
As promised, income over wealth in under a minute.
- Dan
