This is the latest in a series of articles featuring Social Security claiming case studies drawn from the ALM publication "2025 Social Security & Medicare Facts," by Michael Thomas with support from Jim Blair, a former Social Security administrator, and Marc Kiner, a planning expert with extensive experience in public accounting.
The Scenario: Two Divorces and No Eligible Earnings
Anna does not have enough credits to be eligible for Social Security benefits based on her own work record.
She was married to Michael and Phillip for over 10 years each and has been divorced for over two years from each. Regardless of the filing status of her former spouses, once they and Anna are at least age 62, Anna can file for ex-spousal benefits as an independently entitled divorced spouse.
Anna was born in May 1963 and has a actuarially projected longevity of just over 87 years. Michael, her first husband, was born in November 1961 and has a projected longevity of 85 years. His full retirement age is 67, at which time he is entitled to an FRA benefit of $1,875.
Phillip, Anna’s second husband, was born in May 1968. He has a full retirement age of 67 and a projected death age of just over 85. His FRA benefit is $2,250.
Relevant Claiming Rules
Given these circumstances, Anna is eligible first on her first husband’s record and later eligible on her second husband’s record. Due to deemed filing rules, if Anna takes benefits from Michael’s record before becoming eligible for benefits on Phillip’s record, she must file on Phillip’s record in her first month of eligibility or June 2030.
Based on their respective life expectancies, Anna is expected to outlive Michael but not Phillip. Thus, the scenario assumes that survivor benefits are based on Michael’s work record.
Statistically, Anna is not expected to outlive Phillip, but if she does, she would be eligible for a survivor benefit based on his work record.
What the Numbers Say
Despite the apparent complexity of the scenario, Anna has just two primary claiming scenarios to assess. The difference in projected lifetime benefits between them is about $37,000.
The suboptimal strategy would see Anna file in May 2030 at age 67 as an independently entitled divorced spouse on Phillip’s earning record — at which time she would be entitled to a spousal benefit of $1,125. She would eventually switch to a survivor benefit based on Michael's record of $1,875, generating a projected lifetime benefit of $330,276.
The better strategy would see Anna file in June 2025 for a reduced independently entitled divorced spousal benefit at age 62 based on Michael’s work record. This would generate $613 in monthly benefits.
Later, in May 2030, Anna would file at age 67 as an independently entitled divorce spouse on Phillip’s earning record — boosting her benefit to $1,125. As in the first scenario, Anna would then eventually switch to a Michael-based survivor benefit of $1,875, generating a projected lifetime benefit of $367,056.
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