The Mistake: Not Coordinating Benefits With Your Spouse

Spouses that work on their Social Security benefits together have nothing to lose. In fact, you and your loved one could benefit from each other immensely. But too many people don’t know they can maximize their earnings if they coordinate their plans.

Looking at your benefits in a vacuum might not sound too damaging, but once you’ve crunched the numbers, you’ll see exactly how much you stand to gain by simply strategizing. Of course, you could also stand to lose money if you’re not careful.

Here’s an example. Let’s say a married couple wants to use our earlier tip. One of them will claim benefits off the other person’s work record. So far so good, right? Well, now the spouse won’t benefit from delaying their benefits since they won’t gain any extra credit after they reach their full retirement age. And who knows, maybe this could spell financial disaster further down the line?

Solution: Coordinate Your Claiming Strategies

When its time to talk about retirement, do it together. Sometimes financial advisors can help as they’re in the know about most strategies and how best to achieve the most amount of benefits. Their advice could be worth every penny.

Here’s an example of a frequently used strategy. The spouse with lower earnings could obviously claim their spouse’s benefits at full retirement age while the high earner will delay benefits, adding a little extra income in their pockets every month until they turn 70.