ThinkAdvisor has been publishing a collection of Social Safety claiming case research over the previous a number of months. The fabric has been drawn from the up to date ALM publication “2024 Social Safety & Medicare Details,” by Michael Thomas with help from Jim Blair, a former Social Safety administrator, and Marc Kiner, a planning professional with in depth expertise in public accounting.

Plenty of the case research have prompted readers to supply feedback and questions concerning the nuances of optimum claiming, together with the just lately featured case of the high-earning partner.

Within the instance, the optimum claiming strategy proved stunning to some readers. The massive takeaway was that when to say spousal advantages in instances with large variations in earnings histories could make ready till age 70 a suboptimal technique. Delaying goes to be higher than claiming a considerably diminished profit at age 62, however the earlier assortment of the total advantages will repay ultimately — until one member of the couple lives a very long time.

This and different counterintuitive findings prompted Thomas A. to put in writing in final week with extra questions concerning the interplay of spousal and survivor advantages, this time in instances with comparable earnings histories. The solutions to Thomas’ questions, as detailed under, ought to provide extra meals for thought for advisors looking for to assist shoppers keep away from claiming errors and maximize their Social Safety Revenue.

The Situation

Thomas proposed the next state of affairs earlier than posing two elementary questions: Think about a pair during which the husband was born in 1967 and the spouse was born in 1969. The previous has a projected employee good thing about $2,237 at age 62, and this will increase to $3,178 on the full retirement age of 67 and $3,940 on the most claiming age of 70. The spouse, in flip, has her personal employee profit projected as $2,008 at 62, growing to $3,055 at 67 and $3,870 at 70.

As Thomas famous, one technique accessible to this couple could be for the husband to attract his early good thing about $2,237 at age 62, whereas the spouse plans to attend for her most profit at age 70. Whereas this strategy will not be mathematically optimum relying on the longevity projection assumed, it’s nonetheless comparatively efficient from a wealth maximization perspective whereas additionally doubtlessly offering earnings early within the couple’s retirement.

The massive query, although, is what occurs if the spouse dies unexpectedly as a consequence of an accident or sickness. Particularly, can the husband on this state of affairs change to his spouse’s good thing about $3,870 when she would have reached 70? And, if the husband dies earlier than the spouse turns 70, can she obtain his profit till she is 70 after which change to her most good thing about $3,870?

What the Consultants Say

As defined by Blair, the previous SSA official, the primary query comes up recurrently in apply. The reply is combined. That’s, whereas the husband does profit from the deceased spouse’s delayed claiming, he gained’t be capable to totally delay claiming her profit by what would have been her seventieth birthday.

He would as an alternative be capable to draw an quantity equal to what her profit would have been when she died, Blair explains. So, if the spouse was age 69 when she handed, the husband would develop into entitled to her major insurance coverage quantity plus delayed retirement credit earned as much as her month of loss of life.