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Social Security claiming strategy
For most households, Social Security is the single largest financial decision they will make, and it is close to irreversible. Claiming strategy is the work of deciding who claims what and when — your own benefit, a spousal benefit, a survivor benefit — with your health, your spouse's earnings record, your taxes, and your other income all in the picture.
In short
A Social Security claiming strategy compares filing ages for you and your spouse against your health, your other retirement income, and survivor risk, then chooses the option that produces the most household income rather than the biggest check for one person. Lock Wealth Management is a fee-only, CFP®-led firm in Midtown Atlanta that models this as part of planning, starting at $250/month.
What this actually involves
Model both spouses at once
The right answer for one person is often wrong for the household. We run both earnings records together, because the survivor's benefit depends on whose record it is based on.
Compare filing ages honestly
Claiming early locks in a smaller check permanently; delaying past full retirement age grows your own benefit about 8% a year until 70. We show the crossover point and what it assumes.
Find the rules that apply to you
Deemed filing, the widow's option, what happens when the higher earner dies early, and what a divorce or remarriage does to your options. People usually discover these too late.
See the tax consequence
Where Social Security sits in your spending sequence changes how much of it is taxed. It is planned here alongside conversions and distributions, not in isolation.
Put the decision in writing
So it is not made at a kitchen table in the year someone turns 67, by whoever feels most confident that afternoon.
Who this is for
- One spouse earned substantially more than the other.
- You are divorced or widowed and want to know which record you are entitled to use.
- You plan to retire before either of you reaches claiming age and need to bridge the gap.
- You are considering claiming early and want to know what you are actually giving up.
- Health or family longevity is on one side of the decision and you want it counted.
Who this is not for
- Anyone hoping to trade around a benefit. Social Security is not a position.
- Households under 50 looking for an exact number — your earnings record and the rules will both move.
- Situations where a government benefits specialist or an attorney should lead, which we will say plainly.
Hypothetical illustration
A couple where the husband had the far higher earnings record and the wife had a modest one assumed the plan was simply for him to delay to 70. Modeling both records changed that: because of her health and his, the more important number was what she would live on after he died, and the answer turned on which record she would eventually be drawing from. That reframed who delayed and who claimed sooner.
Illustration only. It does not represent an actual client situation and is not a guarantee of results.
How our fees work
We're paid only by our clients: a flat monthly planning fee, plus an optional asset-based fee for the accounts we manage. No commissions, no product payouts, no revenue sharing.
Foundations
$250/month
Get organized, build a plan, and keep an advisor in your corner.
Comprehensive
$400/month
Broader planning across taxes, estate, and long-term goals.
Business owner
$800/month
Integrated advice across personal and business finances.
Investment management is optional and billed separately as a percentage of the accounts we manage; we walk through it during your proposal meeting. See the full process and fee details.
Questions about social security claiming strategy
Read next
- Social Security Spousal and Survivor Benefits: The Claiming Rules Married Couples OverlookThe spousal and survivor rules most people miss.
- How Social Security Works: What You Need to KnowHow the benefit is actually calculated.
- The Most Tax-Friendly States for Retirees Relying on Social SecurityWhere your benefit is treated most kindly.
- When One Spouse Retires and the Other Doesn't: Getting Medicare Enrollment Timing RightWhat claiming and retiring do to healthcare timing.
Model your claiming options before you file
A free 15-minute call with Ben Loughery, CFP®, CRPC™. Bring both birth years and a rough sense of each earnings record, and we can tell you whether the decision is worth modeling.
Schedule a free 15-minute callNo cost, no obligation, and nothing to sell you at the end of it.