Coordinating Social Security claims can boost income for married couples in 2026

For single retirees, Social Security often serves as a crucial source of income. The same can easily hold true for married retirees, who have an opportunity to coordinate their claiming strategies to make the most of household benefits—especially as retirement costs rise and life expectancies increase heading into 2026.

Coordinate your filing strategies

If both you and your spouse are eligible for Social Security based on your respective work histories, you can potentially increase guaranteed household income by timing when each person claims.

The article notes that for every year you each delay claiming past full retirement age until age 70, your benefits receive a permanent 8% boost.

Using the higher earner’s delayed claim

If it is not feasible for both spouses to delay claiming, another approach is for the higher earner to file at 70 while the lower earner claims at full retirement age or earlier if needed. In this setup, the 8% boost applies to the larger benefit amount, which can result in more money for the household.

Example provided: If one spouse is entitled to $2,000 per month at full retirement age of 67, filing at 70 would add an extra $480 per month. If the other spouse is entitled to $3,000 per month at 67, filing at 70 would add an additional $720 per month.

While the higher earner delays, the lower-earning spouse’s benefits can also provide income during the period leading up to full retirement or when one spouse is semi-retiring or fully retiring.

Don’t forget about spousal and survivor benefits

In some households, only one spouse may qualify for Social Security based on earnings history. In that case, the second spouse may be eligible for spousal benefits.

Spousal benefits

Spousal benefits can allow the non-working spouse to receive up to 50% of the eligible spouse’s benefit at full retirement age. For example, if a spouse is eligible for $3,000 per month at full retirement age, the non-working spouse may be eligible for $1,500 per month at full retirement age.

Survivor benefits

The article also highlights that if you outlive your spouse, spousal benefits should convert to survivor benefits, at which point you may be eligible for up to 100% of your spouse’s benefit.

It adds that this is another reason it can be advantageous for the higher earner to delay Social Security. Even if the lower earner does not end up needing spousal benefits because they worked enough to qualify for their own benefits, the surviving spouse is generally entitled to the larger of the two benefits after one spouse passes.

Overall, for married couples, increasing Social Security income can depend on coordinating claims and understanding spousal and survival benefits, which the article says can potentially increase lifetime Social Security by a significant amount.