Don’t Leave Income From Social Security on the Table (many do & don’t realize it)!

(don’t forget to checkout the video of this blog too)

One of the most common sources of guaranteed income that retirees leave on the table is the spousal benefit.

The spousal benefit can be up to 50% of the primary beneficiary’s (or breadwinner’s) full retirement age social security benefit.

But many people don’t even realize it exists.

Since they don’t realize it, a lot of people leave this source of retirement income uncollected (even though it is rightfully theirs).

Unfortunately, the Social Security Administration won’t let you know that you are entitled to this…

You must know this yourself, and must apply for it.

Otherwise, it will just be another social security benefit that goes unpaid.

So if you’re the lower income-earner of the family, you want to run your social security report to determine what your total benefit will be.

If your benefit is less than 1/2 of what your higher-earning spouse’s benefit will be then you want to be sure to apply for the spousal benefit.

This will layer an additional benefit on top of your benefit, that will bring your total to 50% of your spouse’s benefit (assuming both spouses wait until full retirement age to begin collecting).

If you take your benefit, or the spousal benefit early, there will still be a reduction of the overall spousal benefit unfortunately.

And, there’s no benefit in waiting past FRA to collect the spousal benefit (it doesn’t continue to grow when you delay until age 70 like a traditional social security benefit will).

But, this can still add a significant amount of retirement income that can help offset inflation and the costly possibility of having a long-term care event in retirement.

Plus, it’s YOUR money anyways.

You’re entitled to it.

So you might as well apply for it.

It’s also important to note that collecting the spousal benefit does NOT negatively affect the primary beneficiary’s benefit at all.

So there truly is nothing to lose by simply applying for and collecting the spousal benefit.

I say, if you’re unsure, apply anyways.

And if you want a second opinion, feel free to reach out.

Let’s chat 💬😎