How Married Couples Can Make the Most Out of Social Security

Couples can boost lifetime income by coordinating when and how they claim Social Security benefits.

Published: 5/9/2026, 9:55:51 AM EDT

How Married Couples Can Make the Most Out of Social Security — Smart timing of Social Security claims can significantly increase retirement benefits for couples. (Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock)

When you’re working, Social Security may seem pretty straightforward: You pay taxes into a retirement system. And when it’s time to clock out for the last time, you start claiming your share.

But there’s a lot more to it than that. This especially is true for married couples. To make the most out of your retirement and maximize your benefits, you and your spouse need to understand concepts like full retirement age, spousal benefits, survivor benefits and more.

So let’s start with some basics.

Understanding Your Full Retirement Age

You’re eligible to begin claiming Social Security at age 62. But you can increase benefit payments by delaying collecting Social Security benefits until full retirement age or age 70.

Full retirement age ranges from age 66 to 67, depending on your birth year. And for every year you delay after full retirement age, your payment increases by 8 percent until you reach age 70. At that point, you’d receive your maximum benefit payment. This means delaying benefits any longer won’t have any positive effect.

But it’s also important to know how these payments are calculated. The Social Security Administration (SSA) calculates benefits using up to 35 of your highest-earning years.

Knowing each spouse’s estimated future benefits at different claiming ages is crucial to coming up with an effective strategy to maximize benefits.

Each spouse can access this data by creating a My Social Security account online. This information can also help a couple determine spousal benefits.

How Do Spousal Benefits Work?

Spousal benefits are payments one spouse can receive based on the earnings history of their partner instead of their own. One spouse may be able to receive 50 percent of the other spouse’s full retirement benefit if they claim at their own full retirement age.

But there are some basic rules you should know about spousal benefits.

You generally need to be at least 62 years old to collect spousal benefits.

Your spouse must have already been earning their own Social Security benefits.

You and your spouse must have been married for at least a year.

And here’s another important concept to understand. When your spouse is already collecting Social Security benefits, you are what the SSA calls dually entitled. In most cases, this means you’re considered to be applying for your spousal and retirement benefits at the same time. You’d receive the higher one.

The Higher Earner Delays

In some cases, one spouse may have earned a lot more than the other spouse in their working years. In this situation, the higher earning spouse may want to delay collecting Social Security benefits until full retirement age or 70. And the lower-earning spouse can start collecting their benefits earlier.

This strategy would allow the couple to enjoy some income, while the higher-earning spouse’s future payments grow.

And when the higher-earner files for benefits, the lower earner can switch to a spousal benefit if it’s larger than what they are already collecting in retirement benefits.

But if possible, the lower-earning spouse can delay claiming against their spouses’ earnings record until they reach full retirement age or age 70 to potentially maximize their payment.

And by delaying Social Security benefits, the higher earner also provides a larger survivor benefit for their spouse.

What About Survivor Benefits?

The surviving spouse can begin collecting spousal benefits at age 60. However, payments would be larger if they delay until full retirement age. In this case, they’d be eligible to receive up to 100 percent of the deceased’s benefit.

The payment would depend on the survivor’s age and the earnings record of the deceased. However, a surviving spouse may not be eligible if they remarry before reaching age 60. But benefit payments could continue if they remarry at age 60 or later.

The Bottom Line

Coming up with an effective strategy to maximize Social Security benefits can be immensely complex for couples. Variables like financial needs, the capacity to work, health, and much more can affect how different couples approach Social Security. But it’s important for couples to carefully plan and coordinate. Some things you may want to put on your checklist include knowing each other’s earnings histories, estimated future payments, alternate income sources, and how long either can work. This can help you decide when either couple can start claiming.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. NTD does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. NTD holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.

From The Epoch Times