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You Have Two Social Security Checks. Only One Should Wait Until 70 · Align Your Retirement

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, welcome back to Align Your Retirement.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Hazel Secko, CFP and CDFA, founder of Aligned Financial Solutions, a fee-only fiduciary financial planning firm for executive women.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Today, we're taking on the most repeated piece of retirement advice on the internet.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Wait until 70 to claim social security.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to show you why, for a hiring woman, that advice is only half right.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Write for one check in your household, wrong for the other, and silent about the one thing that matters most, the check somebody is going to live on alone.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: I want to start with a sentence itself because you can probably recite it.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Delay Social Security until 70, your benefit grows 8% a year.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: That sentence is true, and it was popularized for a household with a particular shape, a husband with the big earnings record, a wife with a small one, and advice aimed at him.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what happens when the woman listening is the one with the big record, which for this audience, she very often is.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: She's been the higher earner for a decade or three.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: She's the household CFO, and every claiming video she watches is quietly talking about somebody else's marriage.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: So today I want to redrive the rule for your household.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: And to do that, I need to tell you the one fact that the wait until 70 crowd and the claim at 62, get your money crowd, both skip.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Social Security pays a married household two checks until the first death, then it pays one.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: The survivor keeps a larger check and loses the smaller one.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Which means that the higher earner's claiming age isn't really a decision about her 60s.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's the number that gets locked in for whoever is still standing at 85, 90, 95.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And statistically, in most marriages, the one still standing is her.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: I call it the survivor lock-in.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: And once you see it, the whole claiming question reorganizes.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now, grab something to write on.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: The frame.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Two checks become one.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the whole episode in one image.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: A married couple claims two benefits.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: At the first death, the household doesn't keep both and doesn't average them.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: The survivor receives the larger of the two.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And the smaller one stops forever.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Follow the logic where it leads.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: The smaller check is temporary.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: It only pays out while both of you are alive.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: The larger check is permanent.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Someone collects it until the second death, which for a healthy couple can be 30 plus years away.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: So the two checks deserve completely different strategies.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: The temporary check should usually be taken early and enjoyed, and the permanent check is the one worth growing.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Wait until 70.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Always advice about the permanent check.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: The mistake is applying to both of them or to the wrong one.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: So the first question in any claiming conversation isn't when should I claim?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's which check am I?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Part one.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you're the higher earner, your date is the survivor's income.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you're the higher earner, and in this audience, that's often exactly who's watching, your benefit is the permanent check.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what your claiming age does to it.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Using today's rules for someone with a full retirement age of 67, claim at 62, and the check is reduced by about 30% for life.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Wait to 70 and it grows by 24% above your full amount, plus every cost of living adjustment compounds on that bigger base.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Put illustrative numbers on it.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Say your full retirement age benefit is$3,600 a month, a strong earnings record.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: At 62, that's roughly$2,520.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: At$70, it's roughly$4,460.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a$150 difference.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's about$1,900 a month every month for as long as either of you is alive.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you go first, your survivor steps into your check, delayed credits included, across a 25 or 30-year tale before coloss, the gap between those two paths runs deep into six figures.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the part that makes this doubly true for women.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: You're not just setting the survivor's income, you're probably setting your own.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Women outlive men in most marriages, and healthy higher earning women outlive the averages.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: The person most likely to be living on this locked-in check at 92 is you.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Delaying the permanent check is in frugality theater.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's the cheapest longevity insurance you can buy.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: The longevity discount episode, running in reverse.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Which brings us to the advice nobody gives because it sounds almost irresponsible.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: The other check probably shouldn't wait.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Part two.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: The lower earner's check usually shouldn't wait until 70.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Run the same logic on the smaller benefit.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Often in this audience, the husband.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: His check only pays while you're both alive.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: At the first death, it vanishes no matter what age it claimed.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Delaying it to 70 buys an 8% a year increase on a check with a short expected lifespan.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: The reward for waiting is structurally smaller, and the cost of waiting is real money not flowing in your 60s.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: The go-go years, when the spending actually happens.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So the standard coordination for a couple where she's the higher earner often looks like this.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: His smaller benefit starts early, 62 to 65, and funds life now.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Her larger benefit weights growing 8% a year, locking in the maximum permanent check for whoever needs it longest.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Notice what that does to the generic advice.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Wait until 70 and claim early are both right for different checks in the same household.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: The couples who get this wrong usually get it wrong symmetrically.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Both wait and live thinner 60s than they needed to, or both claim early and lock the survivor into a reduced check for decades.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: One more wrinkle worth naming.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: If the higher earner claims very early, the survivor's check can be capped at a reduced level permanently.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: The rules have a floor, but early claiming by the permanent check spouse genuinely damages what the survivor can ever receive.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's the sharpest version of the lock-in and it's invisible until someone dies.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get to the exceptions, one thing.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: This claiming decision doesn't sit alone.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: It connects straight to the bridge years and the widow's penalty math.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: And both of those are in my free executive woman's tax playbook linked below.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's the seven tax moves that matter most before retirement.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Grab it now so the claiming date and the tax plan come together, not separately.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, the exceptions.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the titles promise because there are situations where even the higher earner shouldn't wait.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Three of them.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Part three.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: When not to wait until 70.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Even as the higher earner.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Situation one, you're single and your health picture honestly argues a shorter horizon.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: The survivor logic runs on two lives.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Single, your claim is priced on one.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Delaying is still powerful insurance against a long life.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And healthy women should be careful not to talk themselves out of it.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: But with a serious diagnosis or strong family history signal, the break-even math deserves an honest run instead of a slogan.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is a modeling conversation, not a rule.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Situation two: waiting would force damaging portfolio withdrawals.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Delaying to 70 means your portfolio carries the load in the meantime.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: The bridge years.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: For most women in this audience, that bridge is affordable and even useful.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Low income bridge years are exactly when the Roth conversion window is widest, which is why delay and conversion so often travel together.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: But if funding the bridge means selling heavily in a down market, sequence return doing real damage, or living a pinched version of your go-go years.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: A middle claiming age can beat a perfect 70.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: The optimal claim on paper isn't optimal if the path to it breaks the plan.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Model the bridge before you commit to it.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Situation three, you're a widow.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because you have a two-check strategy almost nobody tells you about.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: A widow can claim a survivor benefit as early as 60 and later switch to her own benefit at 70.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Or take her own reduced benefit first and switch to the survivor benefit at its maximum.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: One check funds the near years while the other grows untouched.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of the only claim now and switch later strategies left in the system.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: It can be worth six figures, and the default at the Social Security office is not guaranteed to be your best sequence.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you're widowed, do not claim anything before this exact sequencing has been modeled.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: This pairs directly with our widow's penalty episodes, which cover the tax side of the same season of life.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: And if you just heard those three and thought, I don't know which one applies to me.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what a call is for.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Bring both benefit estimates, yours and your spouses, and I'll run them through the survivor lock-in math and tell you honestly which check is which and when each should claim.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: 15 minutes complimentary, the links below.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: For now, stay with me because the whole thing fits on one card.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: So let's put the whole framework on one card.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Part four.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: The good news, the decision is smaller than it looks.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Everything today reduces to three questions.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Which check am I, permanent or temporary?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you're the higher earner, you hold a permanent check, and every year of delay is buying insurance for the person who lives longest, most likely you.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Can the household afford the bridge?
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: If yes, the smaller check funds now, the larger check grows, and the bridge years, moonlight as your conversion window.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Does one of the three exceptions genuinely apply?
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Health adjusted horizon while single, a bridge that breaks the plan or widow sequencing, real exceptions, modeled.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: The women who get this right aren't the ones who memorize, wait until 70.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: They're the ones who knew which check the advice was about.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: The landing.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Three things to do this week, write these down.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: One, pull both benefit estimates, yours and your spouses, from your SSA.gov accounts, the real numbers as 62, 67, and 70.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Not the postcard versions, 10 minutes each.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: Two, label the checks.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Circle the larger one, that's the permanent check, the survivor's income and probably your own at 90.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Every claiming decision starts from that label.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: 3.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Price the bridge.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: If the permanent check waits until 70, write down what funds the gap years and whether that bridge doubles as your Roth conversion window.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: If nobody has modeled the bridge, the survivor lock-in and the conversion window as one plan, that's the conversation to have.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Your action step this week is the 10-minute version of the landing.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Log into SSA.gov, pull your benefit estimate, have your spouse pull his, and circle the bigger number.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: That circle is the survivor's income, and the single most important claiming fact in your household.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: The tax playbook is in the show notes, the aligned call is next to it, and both benefit estimates make a perfect agenda.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: If today's episode raised a widow's penalty question, the two episodes on that are linked as well.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: They're the tax side of the same story.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And Hazel Sicko, retirement is too important to wing.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next time.