Spousal and survivor benefits: the Social Security rules couples miss

A spouse who claims at their own full retirement age can receive up to 50% of the other spouse's FRA benefit (the 'primary insurance amount'), if that's more than their own earned benefit. Claiming spousal benefits early reduces them — as low as 32.5% at 62. Two wrinkles matter: the other spouse must already be receiving their benefit before a spousal benefit can start, and spousal benefits do not grow past FRA — there's no reward for delaying a spousal claim beyond 67.

When one spouse dies, the survivor receives the larger of the two benefits — including any delayed retirement credits the deceased earned. The household also drops from two checks to one, which is why survivor planning is really income-floor planning: the question isn't 'what do we get while we're both here' but 'what does the longer-lived of us live on for potentially 10–15 years alone.'

Widows and widowers can claim survivor benefits as early as 60 (reduced), and can even claim a survivor benefit first and switch to their own larger benefit later, or vice versa — one of the few remaining switch strategies in the program.

Because the higher earner's delayed credits ride through to the survivor, delaying the larger benefit to 70 buys an inflation-adjusted annuity on the second-to-die lifetime — statistically a long horizon for couples in their 60s. Meanwhile the lower earner claiming early costs relatively little, since that check disappears at first death anyway. Model both claiming ages jointly with survivor income and realistic longevity — the best combination is rarely 'both at 62' or 'both at 70.'