9 Weird Social Security Rules That Can Surprise Married Couples

Related: Top 10 Things Near-Retirees Get Wrong About Social Security

Retirement experts frequently refer to the claiming of Social Security benefits as one of the most important financial decisions a person faces in their lifetime — and one of the most confusing.

Not only does a person’s unique work history, retirement income level and location affect their after-tax benefit amount, but so does the timing of their benefits claim, along with their choices about “working in retirement.”

Getting the decision right is challenging enough for single individuals, the thinking goes, but the level of complexity and the possibility for errors is ratcheted up even further for married couples.

Not only does the timing of benefit claiming become more complex when two people are involved, but there are also spousal benefit and survivor benefit issues to consider — not to mention the potentially thorny issues that arise in cases of divorce or remarriage.

In the end, planning experts agree, helping married couples navigate the Social Security benefits claiming process is one of the most powerful ways advisors can help their middle-class and mass affluent clients in the retirement planning process. Doing so, however, will require some significant study of the expansive rules and requirements that underlie the federal retirement safety net program.

Fortunately, advisors have a lot of places to turn for insight, including the Tax Facts archive published by ALM, the parent company of ThinkAdvisor. The resources offer up a mountain of useful information with respect to Social Security claiming for individuals and couples, and on many other topics.

See the slideshow for a rundown of 10 Social Security quirks that might catch married couples by surprise, drawn from the frequently updated Tax Facts repository.

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