Deciding when to begin collecting Social Security benefits is one of the most impactful financial choices you can make for your retirement security. Your claiming age significantly affects the size of your monthly payments for the rest of your life. Whether you are single, married, or divorced, your life expectancy is a major factor in determining the ideal claiming age to maximize your total lifetime benefits. This paper takes a comprehensive look at optimized claiming strategies based on marital status and longevity.
For Single Retirees
If you are unmarried when you reach retirement age, your focus will be on coordinating your Social Security claiming age with your individual life expectancy. The Social Security Administration estimates that a 65-year-old woman today on average will live until age 86, while a 65-year-old man can expect to live to age 84. However, your personal health, lifestyle, and family history may put you significantly above or below these averages. If you expect your longevity to be shorter than typical, claiming Social Security as early as age 62 maximizes your lifetime income. If you anticipate living longer than average, delaying your claim to age 70 results in substantially higher total benefits over time.
For those with average life expectancies, claiming around your full retirement age is usually optimal. Carefully weigh starting benefits early at a permanently reduced rate versus waiting longer for a boost. Online calculators can provide estimates to help guide your decision. Working with a financial advisor can also help analyze your break-even points based on your estimated longevity.
For Married Couples
When you're married, coordinating your Social Security claiming ages as a couple becomes crucial to optimizing your joint lifetime benefits. You’ll need to consider both of your life expectancies and the impact of spousal and survivor benefits. A common strategy is having the higher earning spouse delay their claim past full retirement age, up to age 70, in order to maximize that benefit amount. Meanwhile, the lower earning spouse can claim their own benefit as early as age 62 to start bringing in income if needed.
Later, the lower earner can switch to spousal benefits, which pay up to 50% of the primary worker's amount. If your lower earning spouse has the longer life expectancy, they may want to delay past full retirement age to earn delayed retirement credits before switching to survivor benefits.
It’s also vital to weigh the impact of survivor benefits, which support the living spouse after their partner passes away. Proper coordination of claiming ages can help ensure income continues as long as possible. Online calculators can estimate joint life expectancies to further guide claiming decisions.
For Divorced Retirees
Those who divorce after a marriage that lasted 10 years or longer have the option to claim Social Security benefits based on their ex-spouse’s earnings record. This can provide income options to coordinate with benefits available from a current spouse if remarried. Weighing life expectancies among all involved spouses is important to determine ideal ages to claim each benefit source. Online tools can help estimate longevity in these more complex situations.
In any marital situation, the objective is maximizing household Social Security income over your joint expected lifetimes. Seeking expert advice is wise to be sure you make the most of spousal, survivor and divorced spousal benefits in your circumstances. With the right claiming strategies, Social Security can provide crucial income for many years to support a secure retirement.