Services / Distribution planning / Social Security and pensions
The decisions you only get to make once.
When you claim Social Security and which pension option you choose are two of the largest money decisions most households make. Both are hard or impossible to undo.
Social Security
You can claim as early as 62 or wait as late as 70. Each year you wait raises your check for the rest of your life.
Most people are told to find their break-even age — the point where waiting pays off. For a married couple that is usually the wrong question. When one spouse dies, the survivor keeps the larger of the two checks, for life. The higher earner's claiming age often decides how much the survivor lives on for decades.
We work out the timing for both of you together, alongside your savings, your taxes and your health.
Pensions
If you have a pension, you usually choose once, and the choice is permanent:
- A lump sum or a monthly check. The lump sum gives you control and something to leave behind. The monthly check removes the risk of running out.
- A check for one life, or for two. Choosing the higher single-life check leaves a spouse with nothing from the pension if you die first.
Run the numbers before you sign the election form. We are glad to look at yours whether or not we ever work together.
