Maximizing Social Security for married couples: How it works & spousal strategies to consider

Deciding when to claim your Social Security benefits is a key part of your retirement plan. But figuring out Social Security for married couples adds an extra layer of complexity as you create a strategy that works for your entire household.

Whether Social Security income is the bedrock of your retirement income or a cushion to your other assets, you want to make the most of it. The following strategies based on the program's rules could help you and your spouse do just that.

Differences in each spouse's Social Security retirement benefits and estimated life expectancy can affect your retirement strategy. Social Security spousal benefits and survivor benefits can have an impact as well. It's important for married couples to create a cohesive plan that takes both of their potential benefits into account.

Each of you will file for benefits as an individual, so you can strategize when the best time is for each of you. When you claim, your monthly Social Security benefit calculation is based on your highest 35 years of individual earnings, adjusted for inflation. That amount also is affected by your age at the time of filing. You'll get less (as low as 70% of your full benefit) if you claim before reaching your full retirement age, which is 67 for most people, but you can get more the longer you delay up to age 70.

Your coordinated choices about when to claim Social Security, along with other aspects of your lives and finances, will affect your combined lifetime benefits.

If both spouses retire at age 70 in 2025 and meet the maximum income requirements, the maximum monthly retirement benefit they each can receive is $5,108 per month, or $61,296 per year. Together, their monthly Social Security income would be $10,216 per month, or $122,592 per year. These amounts are before taxes and subject to annual COLAs.

Married couples can choose from several strategies when claiming Social Security. Understanding your options can help you and your spouse make an informed decision. The four main strategies offer different advantages depending on your needs, and some of them offer flexibility in when each of you could file for benefits.

One spouse often has significantly higher lifetime earnings than the other. The rules about Social Security for married couples can help compensate for this discrepancy: They allow the lower-earning spouse to receive spousal benefits based on the higher-earning spouse's record.

Example^*: Louise's monthly benefit at full retirement age (also called her primary insurance amount) is $1,200 while her husband George's is $3,000. He is three years younger. If Louise and George each file at their FRA of 67, Louise will collect a $1,200 benefit for 36 months. When she turns 70 and George files at 67, the Social Security Administration should automatically start paying Louise a spousal benefit instead because it will give her a larger payment of $1,500, or half of George's benefit amount. George still will receive his full $3,000. If Louise waits to file until she turns 70, her own monthly benefit will be $1,488 (124% of $1,200), which is close to her spousal benefit. However, she will miss out on the $43,200 she would have received by filing at 67.

Consider this strategy if: One spouse's primary insurance amount is less than 50% of the other spouse's. This might happen if one spouse was an unpaid family caregiver for many years, one spouse became disabled and left the workforce early (or, for some reason, entered late) and won't have enough Social Security credits, among other reasons.

Reconsider this strategy if: Both spouses have shorter life expectancies and may want to claim earlier.

Waiting to claim Social Security until your full retirement age, which is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later, guarantees 100% of your benefits. For each month beyond your full retirement age that you wait to claim benefits, up to age 70, you get delayed retirement credits. Your monthly benefit grows by 2/3% for each month you wait, which means that your monthly benefit grows by 8% for each year you hold off claiming.

Example^*: Jim's monthly benefit at his full retirement age of 67 is $2,500. By waiting, his benefit could grow to $2,700 at 68, $2,900 at 69 and $3,100 at age 70. Maggie's full monthly benefit is $2,000 at age 67, growing to $2,160 at 68, $2,320 at 69 and $2,480 at 70.

Consider this strategy if: You and your spouse are in good health or at least one of you is still working—or you have other assets to draw on, such as well-funded 401(k)s, Roth IRAs, brokerage accounts or traditional pensions.

Reconsider this strategy if: You may have to sell investments at a loss to cover your expenses until age 70. Doing so could significantly diminish your portfolio's value and force you to scale back spending to avoid running out of money during your lifetime.

In strategy #2, you saw how waiting increases benefits by 8% annually up to age 70. Let's translate that advantage to a third option: a split, or staggered, claiming strategy, where only the higher-earning spouse waits until 70 (or as long as your household can afford it). This strategy lets you maximize one spouse's benefits while increasing your cash flow sooner.

Example^*: As in the previous example, Jim's monthly benefit at 67 is $2,500. It grows to $3,100 at age 70. Maggie's full monthly benefit is $2,000 at age 67 and grows to $2,480 at age 70. By waiting, Jim's monthly benefit grows by $600. Maggie's only grows by $480. Since the advantage of delaying is a percentage increase—not a flat dollar amount—the higher-earning spouse will gain more by waiting than the lower-earning spouse will. The bigger the difference in your benefits, the larger this difference will be.

Consider this strategy if: You don't want to wait until you both turn 70 to file for benefits, or the lower-earning spouse has a lower life expectancy (and therefore a lower break-even point—the date when total benefits from delayed claiming equals total benefits from claiming sooner.) This claiming strategy will also maximize the lower-earning spouse's Social Security survivor benefits.

Reconsider this strategy if: The higher-earning spouse seems more likely to die first. In this case, they may not reach their break-even point.

Claiming Social Security early means your monthly benefit may be significantly smaller. Just as your benefit increases when you claim after full retirement age, it decreases when you claim before full retirement age. The earliest you can claim is age 62.

Example^*: Jamie and Casey reach full retirement age when they turn 67, but they both decide to claim at 62. They each have their full benefit reduced by the maximum, which is 30%. Instead of getting $3,300 at 67, Jamie will get $2,310 at 62. Casey's reduced benefit will be $1,820 based on a full benefit of $2,600. Together, they will get $4,130 a month instead of $5,900. However, they'll each be getting payments five years longer than they would otherwise, which may be their best option since Jamie has diabetes with complications and Casey has liver disease.

Consider this strategy if: The job market or poor health or a disability has forced you into early retirement, and you need the money; you need to stop working to care for an aging spouse or parent; you don't have a long life expectancy; you're going to stop working but want to allow your other investments more time to grow; or you have another future source of guaranteed income, such as an annuity or private pension.

Reconsider this strategy if: You both have long life expectancies, you're still working and bringing in more than the earnings limit or you're relying primarily on Social Security to fund your retirement.

There is no one right answer for what married couples should do about Social Security. Every couple's plan should be customized based on age, income, retirement savings, other assets and health.

It's also important to consider that a strategy that might initially seem best for a married couple may not be on closer analysis. Taxes, Medicare surcharges, Roth IRA conversions, having young or disabled children, or continuing to work after claiming benefits could affect your outcome.

Social Security claiming strategies are complicated, but you don't have to navigate them alone. A Thrivent financial advisor can run scenarios that account for your specific circumstances and different possibilities. With this information, they can partner with you to build an optimal Social Security strategy.