What age should you take Social Security if you are married?

The short answer

There is no single right age for a married couple, but the decision usually turns on one person: the higher earner. Their claiming age sets their own check and the check the surviving spouse keeps, so for many couples the higher earner waiting toward 70 does more good than anything the lower earner does.

The lower earner's age matters less. Their spousal benefit is capped at 50 percent of the higher earner's full benefit and earns no credit for waiting past full retirement age. The example below puts dollars on each choice.

How do spousal and survivor benefits work?

Married couples have three checks to think about, not two.

A few rules sit underneath that table. A spouse cannot collect a spousal benefit until the worker has filed. If you were born in 1954 or later, filing for either your own benefit or a spousal benefit counts as filing for both, which is called deemed filing. And when one spouse dies, the survivor keeps the larger of the two checks while the smaller one stops.

That last rule is the reason the higher earner's age carries so much weight. Their check is the one that survives.

A worked example: Tom and Carol

Here is a hypothetical example. Tom is 62 and Carol is 60. Both have a full retirement age of 67. Tom's full benefit is $3,000 a month and Carol's is $1,200. Half of Tom's benefit is $1,500, so Carol is eligible for an extra $300 spousal top-up once Tom files.

Figures are in today's dollars and ignore cost-of-living adjustments and taxes, so the comparison stays clean.

When Carol claims at 62 alongside Tom, her own check drops to 70 percent ($840) and her $300 top-up drops to 65 percent ($195). When she claims at 62 but Tom waits to 70, she collects her reduced $840 until Tom files, then adds the full $300, because by then she is past her full retirement age.

How much does the higher earner's age change the survivor's check?

The right-hand column is where the money is. If Tom claims at 62, Carol's survivor check is $2,475, not $2,100. That is because a survivor at full retirement age receives at least 82.5 percent of the deceased's full benefit when the deceased claimed early. If Tom waits to 70, Carol keeps his $3,720, delayed credits included.

The gap is $1,245 a month. Over a nine-year widowhood, that is about $134,000.

Which strategy collects the most over a lifetime?

Totals depend on how long each of you lives, which nobody knows. Here are two hypothetical lifespans for Tom and Carol, adding every check the household receives.

Two things stand out. Tom waiting to 70 comes out ahead in both cases, even when he dies at 75, because Carol inherits the larger check for 19 years. And Carol's own claiming age moves the total far less than Tom's does. Carol claiming at 62 even wins in the second case, since the extra years of her small check outweigh the reduction.

This is one example, not a rule. If both spouses have serious health concerns, or the household would have to sell investments in a down market to wait, an earlier claim can still be the better fit.

When does it make sense for the lower earner to claim early?

The lower earner's check stops when either spouse dies, because the survivor keeps only the larger benefit. That makes an early claim by the lower earner a smaller, shorter-lived trade. Common reasons couples choose it:

• It brings in cash while the higher earner waits, which can reduce early withdrawals from savings.
• The lower earner is older than the higher earner, so the household is collecting sooner.
• The lower earner's own benefit is small relative to the spousal top-up they will get later.

The tradeoff is that the reduction on the lower earner's own benefit is permanent for as long as they collect it. Our article on what you lose by claiming at 62 instead of 67 shows the reduction month by month.

What changes for a widow or widower?

Survivor benefits follow different rules. They can start as early as 60, at a reduced amount of 71.5 percent at 60 rising to 100 percent at full retirement age. They are not subject to deemed filing, so a survivor can take one benefit now and switch to the other later.

For example, a widow whose own benefit grows to 124 percent at 70 might take a reduced survivor check at 60 and switch to her own at 70. Another whose survivor benefit is much larger might take her own reduced check at 62 and switch to the full survivor check at full retirement age. Social Security does not pick the order for you, so it is worth running both before filing.

Does North Carolina tax Social Security?

No. North Carolina lets you subtract the Social Security included in your federal adjusted gross income, so for couples here the claiming decision is a federal tax question only. That matters for widows and widowers. After a death, the survivor files as single, often with nearly the same income, which can push more of the benefit into federal taxable income even though the state takes none of it.

The bottom line

For most married couples, the higher earner's claiming age is the decision that matters most, because that check becomes the survivor's for life. The lower earner's spousal benefit stops growing at full retirement age, so waiting past it gains nothing on that piece. Survivor rules are more flexible than most people expect, with a start as early as 60 and the option to switch later. The right answer depends on your health, your age gap, and whether you can cover the bills while one of you waits.

If one of you died at 80, what monthly check would the other live on, and have you both agreed that number is enough?

To test your own claiming ages, try the free Social Security calculator or our lesson on when to take Social Security. To see how it fits your whole income plan, take the free Retirement Reality Report.

Questions people ask next

Can my wife collect spousal benefits if I have not filed yet?

No. A spouse can only receive a spousal benefit after the worker has filed for their own retirement benefit. The spouse also has to be at least 62, or caring for a qualifying child.

Does the spousal benefit go up if my spouse waits until 70?

No. Delayed retirement credits apply only to your own retirement benefit. The spousal benefit is capped at 50 percent of the worker's full retirement age amount, so there is no reason to wait past full retirement age to claim it.

If my husband took Social Security at 62, what will I get as a widow?

At your full retirement age, you get the larger of what he was actually receiving or 82.5 percent of his full benefit. If he had waited past full retirement age, you would keep his larger check, including the delayed credits.

Can a widow take her own Social Security first and switch to survivor benefits later?

Yes. Survivor benefits are not subject to deemed filing, so a widow or widower can start one benefit and switch to the other later if it is larger. The order depends on which benefit grows more by waiting.

How long do you have to be married to get spousal or survivor benefits?

Generally one year for a spousal benefit and nine months for a survivor benefit, with exceptions. A divorced spouse can qualify if the marriage lasted at least ten years and they have not remarried.

Should both spouses wait until 70 to claim Social Security?

Not necessarily. The lower earner's own check does not become the survivor's if they die first, so many couples have the lower earner claim earlier for cash flow and the higher earner wait. Health, savings, and the age gap between you all change the answer.