Search Articles

Find Attorneys

You May Be Able to Claim Social Security Benefits Now and Claim More Later

  • February 24th, 2016

UPDATE: A new law that will go into effect on April 29, 2016, will phase out this strategy. If you are 62 or older by the end of 2015, you will still be able to choose which benefit you want at your full retirement age. Under the new law, when workers who are not 62 by the end of 2015 apply for spousal benefits, Social Security will assume it is also an application for benefits on the worker's record. The worker is eligible for the higher benefit, but he or she can't choose to take just take the spousal benefits and allow his or her own benefits to keep increasing until age 70.


Local Elder Law Attorneys in Your City

Elder Law Attorney

Firm Name
City, State

Elder Law Attorney

Firm Name
City, State

Elder Law Attorney

Firm Name
City, State

Although you can begin receiving Social Security benefits anytime after age 62, the longer you wait, the higher the benefit you will receive. But many people need money right away and cannot afford to delay. If you are married, there is a strategy that may allow you to claim some benefits immediately and then claim more benefits later.

First a little background: You have three options for when to begin taking your Social Security retirement benefits: You may begin taking benefits between age 62 and your full retirement age, you can wait until your full retirement age (which varies depending on your age), or you can delay benefits and take them anytime up until you reach age 70. Your benefit will increase by 6 to 8 percent, depending on when you were born, for every year that you delay, in addition to any cost of living increases.

The "claim now, claim more later" strategy outlined in a new study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College is based on the fact that married individuals are entitled to either a Social Security benefit based on their own earnings or to a spousal benefit equal to one-half of their spouse's full retirement benefit. When you reach full retirement age, you can choose which benefit you want to take. If you choose your spousal benefit, you can continue building up delayed retirement credits for your own benefit. Then at age 69, you can claim your maximum retirement benefit and stop receiving the spousal benefit.

The study gave an example of how this "claim now, claim more later" strategy would work. According to the study, it is usually optimal for a wife to claim her own early retirement benefits because wives typically earn less than their husbands but also usually outlive them, and once the husband dies, the wife is entitled to his benefit as a widow. Therefore, according to the strategy, the wife would claim early retirement benefits at 62 while the husband waited. Once the husband reached his full retirement age, he would claim a spousal benefit. Then at 69, the husband would claim the maximum amount of his retirement benefit and stop receiving the spousal benefit. If the wife earns more than the husband, the strategy would work in reverse.

Illustration: Beginning at age 62, Mrs. Brown gets $978 a month in early retirement benefits. Beginning at age 66, Mr. Brown receives a spousal benefit of $767 a month (50 percent of his wife's full retirement benefit of $1,534/month). Then, at age 70, Mr. Brown stops receiving the spousal benefit and begins receiving $3,209 a month (the maximum amount of his retirement benefit).

To read the study, click here.

For more information on Social Security benefits, click here.


Last Modified: 02/24/2016
Learn the secrets of estate planning from an expert
ADVERTISEMENT
Medicaid 101
What Medicaid Covers

In addition to nursing home care, Medicaid may cover home care and some care in an assisted living facility. Coverage in your state may depend on waivers of federal rules.

READ MORE
How to Qualify for Medicaid

To be eligible for Medicaid long-term care, recipients must have limited incomes and no more than $2,000 (in most states). Special rules apply for the home and other assets.

READ MORE
Medicaid’s Protections for Spouses

Spouses of Medicaid nursing home residents have special protections to keep them from becoming impoverished.

READ MORE
What Medicaid Covers

In addition to nursing home care, Medicaid may cover home care and some care in an assisted living facility. Coverage in your state may depend on waivers of federal rules.

READ MORE
How to Qualify for Medicaid

To be eligible for Medicaid long-term care, recipients must have limited incomes and no more than $2,000 (in most states). Special rules apply for the home and other assets.

READ MORE
Medicaid’s Protections for Spouses

Spouses of Medicaid nursing home residents have special protections to keep them from becoming impoverished.

READ MORE
Medicaid Planning Strategies

Careful planning for potentially devastating long-term care costs can help protect your estate, whether for your spouse or for your children.

READ MORE
Estate Recovery: Can Medicaid Take My House After I’m Gone?

If steps aren't taken to protect the Medicaid recipient's house from the state’s attempts to recover benefits paid, the house may need to be sold.

READ MORE
Help Qualifying and Paying for Medicaid, Or Avoiding Nursing Home Care

There are ways to handle excess income or assets and still qualify for Medicaid long-term care, and programs that deliver care at home rather than in a nursing home.

READ MORE
Are Adult Children Responsible for Their Parents’ Care?

Most states have laws on the books making adult children responsible if their parents can't afford to take care of themselves.

READ MORE
Applying for Medicaid

Applying for Medicaid is a highly technical and complex process, and bad advice can actually make it more difficult to qualify for benefits.

READ MORE
Alternatives to Medicaid

Medicare's coverage of nursing home care is quite limited. For those who can afford it and who can qualify for coverage, long-term care insurance is the best alternative to Medicaid.

READ MORE
ElderLaw 101
Estate Planning

Distinguish the key concepts in estate planning, including the will, the trust, probate, the power of attorney, and how to avoid estate taxes.

READ MORE
Grandchildren

Learn about grandparents’ visitation rights and how to avoid tax and public benefit issues when making gifts to grandchildren.

READ MORE
Guardianship/Conservatorship

Understand when and how a court appoints a guardian or conservator for an adult who becomes incapacitated, and how to avoid guardianship.

READ MORE
Health Care Decisions

We need to plan for the possibility that we will become unable to make our own medical decisions. This may take the form of a health care proxy, a medical directive, a living will, or a combination of these.

READ MORE
Estate Planning

Distinguish the key concepts in estate planning, including the will, the trust, probate, the power of attorney, and how to avoid estate taxes.

READ MORE
Grandchildren

Learn about grandparents’ visitation rights and how to avoid tax and public benefit issues when making gifts to grandchildren.

READ MORE
Guardianship/Conservatorship

Understand when and how a court appoints a guardian or conservator for an adult who becomes incapacitated, and how to avoid guardianship.

READ MORE
Health Care Decisions

We need to plan for the possibility that we will become unable to make our own medical decisions. This may take the form of a health care proxy, a medical directive, a living will, or a combination of these.

READ MORE
Long-Term Care Insurance

Understand the ins and outs of insurance to cover the high cost of nursing home care, including when to buy it, how much to buy, and which spouse should get the coverage.

READ MORE
Medicare

Learn who qualifies for Medicare, what the program covers, all about Medicare Advantage, and how to supplement Medicare’s coverage.

READ MORE
Retirement Planning

We explain the five phases of retirement planning, the difference between a 401(k) and an IRA, types of investments, asset diversification, the required minimum distribution rules, and more.

READ MORE
Senior Living

Find out how to choose a nursing home or assisted living facility, when to fight a discharge, the rights of nursing home residents, all about reverse mortgages, and more.

READ MORE
Social Security

Get a solid grounding in Social Security, including who is eligible, how to apply, spousal benefits, the taxation of benefits, how work affects payments, and SSDI and SSI.

READ MORE
Special Needs Planning

Learn how a special needs trust can preserve assets for a person with disabilities without jeopardizing Medicaid and SSI, and how to plan for when caregivers are gone.

READ MORE
Veterans Benefits

Explore benefits for older veterans, including the VA’s disability pension benefit, aid and attendance, and long-term care coverage for veterans and surviving spouses.

READ MORE