Jul 29, 2025
If you’re married and applying for Social Security, there’s a lot more thought that should go into this decision than you may realize.
There’s a lot at stake, for both you and your partner, and a few common mistakes can reduce your lifetime benefit payouts by thousands of dollars.
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Here are the three biggest mistakes couples filing for Social Security may make and how to avoid them.
Getting the timing wrong
You probably already know the basics of Social Security — if you’re born after 1960, eligibility starts at 62 and full retirement age (FRA) is 67. Claiming benefits earlier than (FRA) means a smaller payout, and waiting until 70 gives you the biggest monthly benefit possible.
When you’re part of a couple and share income and expenses, you need to decide the best timing for both of you to claim benefits.
Since you've got two checks coming in, you might be tempted to file early, assuming you can better handle the reduced income.
But a married couple should discuss timing carefully. Since you may have different time horizons for retirement, different benefit amounts and different life expectancies, you might choose to each claim Social Security at a different point in your lives
Perhaps you would like to retire early and delay your spouse’s benefits until full retirement age to maximize the payout. Two sets of incomes and two different careers means you need to carefully plan for when each partner starts to get benefits and whether it fits your lifestyle together.
Reach out to a professional financial planner to make sure you plan for your benefits accordingly.
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Not doing spousal benefit calculations
You may be vaguely aware of spousal benefits, but this element of the Social Security system requires some careful planning to get right. If one partner can get a much larger benefit than the other, spousal benefits may be very advantageous.
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This is why it’s essential that you run the numbers.
First the basics: the lower-earning spouse may be entitled to spousal benefits if they are at least age 62 or have a qualifying child in her/his care. These benefits can be as much as 50% of the higher-earning spouse’s benefit at full retirement age. So if the higher-earner made a monthly income of $2,500, the lower-earner may be eligible for $1,250 in spousal benefits.
Here’s the catch — spousal benefits only kick in when the partner claims their benefit. And, of course, the partner claiming earlier than full retirement age means a lower payout for both spouses.
The lower-earning spouse will also get a reduced spousal benefit if they claim early at age 62. It may be as little as 32.5% of the higher-earning spouse’s benefit at full retirement age.
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Spousal benefits also cannot increase past 50% of the retired worker’s benefit at full retirement age. So even if the higher-earner waits until 70 to claim, the spousal benefit won’t also get the extra bump.
Missing out on survivor benefits
No one wants to think of their loved ones passing away, but this is an unavoidable aspect of your retirement planning. If one spouse passes earlier than the other, the other may be eligible for survivor benefits.
“Apply for survivors benefits promptly because, for some claims, we’ll pay benefits from the time you apply and not from the time the worker died,” says the Social Security official website.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the survivor benefit is the age you start claiming it.
At full retirement age or older, the surviving spouse can get 100% of the benefit amount. From age 60 and older, the surviving spouse is eligible for between 71% and 99%. A surviving spouse at any age with a child younger than age 16 gets 75%.
If you have a child, they generally get 75% of the parent's benefit, and the total payment is subject to a “family maximum.” There’s also a one-time lump-sum death payment of $255 that some spouses and children of deceased beneficiaries could be eligible for. Survivors must apply for this payment within 2 years of the date of their partner’s death.
Speak to an expert to get a deeper understanding of the survivor benefit and how all its nuances could affect you and your partner’s retirement plan.
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Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
