How do spousal and survivor Social Security benefits interact when we plan our claiming ages?

For married couples, the smart move is often to have the higher earner delay to 70 while the lower earner claims earlier. Here's why: when one spouse dies, the survivor keeps the larger of the two benefits, so maximizing the higher earner's check protects whoever lives longer. The lower earner's early benefit provides household cash flow in the meantime. A spousal benefit can be up to half the higher earner's full retirement age amount, but it doesn't grow with delayed credits, so there's no reason to delay a spousal-only claim past full retirement age. Coordinating both claims as one decision, not two, can add tens of thousands over a couple's lifetime.

Model joint strategies at wealthserene.com/tools/social-security-optimizer.