Key Points
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If you’re married, you may qualify for a spousal Social Security benefit as well as a retirement benefit.
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Coordinating your claiming strategy with your spouse is the best way to maximize your household benefits.
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In couples with a high income disparity, the lower earner may choose to apply for their own retirement benefit early.
Most married couples can look forward to two Social Security benefits in retirement. This could help you stretch your savings further, but a lot depends on the strategy you use.
If you and your partner both sign up for benefits without communicating with each other, you risk short-changing yourselves. Here’s what you need to know to decide when each person should apply for Social Security.
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Social Security retirement vs. spousal benefits
You’ll qualify for Social Security retirement benefits on your own work record if you’ve worked long enough to claim 40 credits, where one credit is $1,890 in earnings in 2026, and you can earn up to four credits per year. If your partner also qualifies for a retirement benefit, you’ll be eligible for a spousal benefit on their work record, too.
A spousal benefit is worth up to one-half of the benefit your partner qualifies for at their full retirement age (FRA). This is 67 for most people. Like retirement benefits, you can claim these checks as early as 62, provided your partner is already on Social Security. But you’ll get a smaller monthly benefit if you apply early.
Spousal Social Security benefits continue growing until you reach your FRA. Retirement benefits can continue to grow until age 70, when you qualify for your maximum checks.
How to work with your spouse to maximize your household Social Security benefits
The Social Security Administration will only give you the larger of the two benefits you qualify for. That’s likely to be your retirement benefit unless your spouse has earned considerably more than you throughout your career. If that’s not the case and your goal is to maximize your household benefits, you may each want to delay your retirement benefits as long as possible.
When one person has significantly outearned the other, the lower earner may prefer to apply for their own retirement benefit first. This gives the household some Social Security to supplement their other income sources while the higher earner holds off until they qualify for larger benefits. When they apply, the lower earner can request a change to a spousal benefit if it’s worth more than what they’re currently receiving.
But it’s ultimately up to you and your spouse to decide on the strategy that works best for you. Make sure you’re both on the same page about when each person will apply for benefits, and keep each other in the loop if one of you wants to change the plan.
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