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.
Paul and Teresa are a married couple five years apart in age. Paul reached full retirement age (FRA) at age 66 and eight months, having been born in October 1958. At that time, his benefit was $2,647. Paul’s actuarially projected death age is just over 84.
Teresa, having been born in September 1963, reaches her FRA at age 67. Having earned significantly less than Paul, her FRA benefit is $724, and her expected death age is just over 87. In this scenario, she’s expected to survive Paul by approximately seven and a half years, during which time she anticipates collecting a survivor benefit that is meaningfully larger than either her own FRA or maximum worker benefit.
In this situation, the couple has at least six potentially viable claiming strategies to consider, and the difference between the “best” and “worst” strategy from a benefit maximization perspective is more than $100,000.
What the Numbers Say
The least optimal strategy would have seen Paul file early at age 66 and 3 months in January 2025 for a reduced worker benefit of $2,573. Teresa would likewise then have filed early in October at age 62 and 1 month for her own reduced worker benefit of $509, complemented by $391 in additional reduced spousal “top up” benefits.
If Teresa later switches to the survivor benefit ($2,573), this delivers a total projected lifetime benefit for the couple of $995,249.
An approximately $10,000 boost in benefits comes from assuming Teresa takes the same path, but Paul instead waited until June 2025 to receive his full worker benefit of $2,647. All else being equal, this raises the projected lifetime benefit for the couple to $1,005,176.
Nearly the same benefit projection comes from assuming Paul takes the early-file route in January 2025, but Teresa waits to file for her full worker benefit ($724) and full spousal benefit ($599) at age 67 in September 2030. If she again eventually switches to the survivor benefit, the total benefit projection inches up to $1,006,445.
A much more meaningful benefit boost comes from assuming Teresa filed early in October 2025 for her reduced worker benefit of $509. Paul then is assumed to file for his maximum worker benefit of $3,352 at age 70 in October 2028. At that time, Teresa files for reduced spousal benefits to again “top up” her benefit. Later, she switches to the $3,352 survivor benefit, generating a total projected benefit of $1,093,760.
The “best” strategy likewise sees Paul wait until age 70 to file for his maximum benefit, while Teresa files for her FRA worker benefit and her full spousal top up benefit in September 2030. When the survivor benefit is factored in, this approach delivers $1,099,432.
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