Claiming the wife's smaller benefit at 62 generates immediate cash flow while the husband's larger benefit grows 8% annually until age 70.
When one spouse dies, the survivor keeps only the larger benefit, making the husband's delayed check a permanent income floor for his wife.
With U.S. household debt at a record $18.8 trillion and a 3.9% savings rate, her early check bridges the gap without draining retirement accounts.
Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset's free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don't waste another minute; learn more here.
Picture a couple in their early 60s. He spent decades as a mid-level manager, she worked longer stretches at lower pay while raising kids. At 63, his employer announces an AI-driven restructuring and his role disappears. The severance is decent but finite. Her paycheck is smaller and steady. They have some savings, a mortgage nearly paid off, and worry about bridging the next few years without tapping retirement accounts.
Stories like theirs are showing up more often in online retirement forums, where a spouse asks whether it is time to turn on Social Security. It is a fair question, especially when the June 2026 unemployment rate of 4.2% hides how choppy the job market has become for workers over 60.
The instinct most couples have is to turn on the bigger benefit because it produces more cash flow. In this situation, that is exactly backwards. The move that better protects them for the next 30 years is claiming the wife's smaller benefit early, while the husband's larger benefit keeps growing untouched until age 70.
_________________________________
Here's a question most people 5y from retirement can't answer: at your current savings rate, how much do you need, and how long will it actually last? A good advisor can put a date on that in a single meeting. SmartAsset's free quiz matches you with up to three fiduciary advisors serving your area, so you can get YOUR retirement number now (sponsor)
__________________________________________
Two Social Security mechanics drive this. First, claiming before full retirement age (FRA) permanently lowers a benefit, with up to a 30% reduction if you claim at age 62. Second, delaying past FRA adds roughly 8% per year up to age 70. Those delayed credits are locked in for life and carried forward into the survivor benefit.
Source: Yahoo Finance Top News — This article was automatically imported from the source. Read full article at original source →
