John very good to see you. Today we get to discuss the secrets of maximizing your social security as a couple. Social Security claiming strategies for married couples can be more complex because you need to consider spousal benefits and survivor benefits, which we will get into. But what is the most important consideration when deciding when to claim social security if I am married?

Well, the most important thing is to actually consider it and do the planning. You know, I joke around this in my retirement workshops, that most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than they do planning one of the most powerful income strategies in social security claiming that retirees are going to have. So you know what you have to consider is how you're going to maximize and optimize that social security benefit within your specific situation. And we have to take into consideration a couple of things right. Number one, overall income goals, number two, tax situation, and number three, health.

Right. So what's the most common mistake that you see when it comes to married couples claiming Social Security?

Well, this kind of goes hand in hand with not planning, but I think it's following the crowd or following the gut feeling of an article they read or something that they saw on TV right?

They think Social Security is running out of money so they want to get their money as soon as possible. I will tell you that at every conference I've been to with the Social Security expert, some say there may be adjustments in the form of reductions in the future. But I've never heard anyone say that social security will not be around for today’s Boomers. I also think that a lot of Social Securities, uh that people who’ve claimed security to their detriment, are quick to pull it because they want to replicate that paycheck that they've had for their 30 years. They are willing to take that lesser amount just to get that income stream, not always the correct strategy.

Right. So speaking of strategies, what strategies should couples consider when they're trying to figure out claiming?

Generally speaking, you want to maximize the higher income earning spouses benefit. So you want to delay that. And for twofold. Number one, Social Security again, is income. Income is expensive. So if we can maximize the income stream, that's what pays your bills. Social security is also a good inflation headge. As you saw during the inflationary years, social security had substantial bumps. So you want to maximize that highest income earners benefits. That's the living side of it. Now we also have to look at the flip side of the coin, the surviving side, right. The surviving spouse's side. You want to maximize the highest income earner's social security strategy, because if you maximize that income, when one spouse passes, one benefit will go away and you will keep the highest of the two benefits. Which is typically the highest income earner's Social Security, so therefore, you are not taking as big of a pay cut in a survivorship scenario.

It's really important. So what if one spouse is working and the other is retired? How does that change the calculation, or what if both are retired?

Right. Well, let's just stick with the working benefit. If you are working. I strongly, strongly, discourage people from claiming social security while working because of the earned income credits. That's a whole other video a whole other session to teach, so we’re not going to go into it. But just look up earned income credits. The other thing is, if the retiree spouse is claiming Social Security and you have the other spouse still working, you do have to take into consideration the income that's going to tax the claiming spouse’s Social Security right. We talked about Social Security taxation being one of the tax torpedoes or tax gotchas in retirement. You want to consider that. So again, the mantra that we always push is social security can not be planned on its own. It is a part of the income strategy, which is just a small slice of the pie of the overall retirement strategy, you have to take into consideration health, taxes, and your overall income strategy.

Right, and it really has to be a conversation, not an equation that you find online. So John, if somebody wants to have that conversation with you. How can they reach you?

Well, we always encourage people to subscribe to this channel because we have tons of videos in the past on Social Security. We also have a podcast where we interview social security experts, and you can visit our website, www.gosecurus.com where there you can find more information on Social Security and claiming strategies. While you're on the website, you can visit the Contact Us Tab and from there you can schedule a 15-minute phone call where we'll answer any general questions. Or you can schedule a 60-minute Clarity and Vision Consultation. And if you like to do things the old-fashioned way, give us a call at the office, at 858-935-6210, ask to speak with Emily Wale and she will get you on my calendar.

Great, John, thank you.

Thank you, Erin.