Social Security is one of the richest pension programs ever created. Most middle-income couples will receive over $1.4 million in eligible benefits over a 20-year retirement. Higher-income couples often receive $2 million or more over the same retirement
 period and can collect over $100,000 per year in combined benefits.

Unfortunately, the majority of Social Security beneficiaries end up leaving thousands of dollars in available benefits on the table because the program is confusing and complicated. With more than 2,700 rules, most couples have over 500 possible filing
 scenarios. Furthermore, you can’t seek guidance from Social Security agents regarding the best way to file for benefits because they are prohibited from offering advice.

To help people work through the maze of Social Security rules and filing options, below is my opinion of the top ten Social Security essential rules and filing strategies.   

1. The Grace Year Rule



If you file for Social Security benefits between age 62 and FRA, you will be subject to the earnings test. In 2025, if you earn more than $23,400, Social Security will withhold $1 of Social Security benefits for every $2 earned above that amount. The
 only exception is if you file the year you reach your FRA, in which case you are allowed to earn $62,120, with $1 withheld for every $3 you earn above that. 

However, an exception to the earnings test, known as the Grace Year Rule, applies in the first year you file for benefits—provided you file between age 62 and full retirement age (FRA). FRA is between age 66 and 67, depending on your birth year.


Social Security is not concerned with how much income you earned before retiring but focuses on your earnings from Jul. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 2025.

Here’s an example of the Grace Year Rule. For example, assume a person turned age 62 on Jan. 1, 2025, works until June 30, 2025, and earns $100,000 during those six months. If they stop working and have no earned income from Jul.1 to Dec. 31, 2025,
 they can file for Social Security benefits as soon as Jul. 1 and not be penalized by the earnings test—even though they exceeded the annual limit of $23,400. Social Security is not concerned with how much income they earned before retiring but
 focuses on their earnings from Jul. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 2025.

During this time, Social Security switches from an annual earnings limit of $23,400 to a monthly limit of $1,950 (1/12 of the annual amount). If your earnings in any month within this period are less than $1,950, you will not be penalized due to the earnings
 test. However, if you exceed $1,950 in earnings in any month, Social Security will withhold your benefits for that month. This grace year rule only applies in the first year that you file and only if you file prior to FRA.

2. The “Do-Over” and “Start and Re-start”

Once you file for Social Security benefits, you are locked in and cannot change your filing option. But there are two exceptions: the “do-over” and the “start and restart.”

The do-over allows you to undo your filing election one time within 12 months of filing and repay the benefits received. After 12 months from your filing date, you can't change your filing election.

The start and restart exception allows people between FRA and 70 to suspend benefits at any time and restart them any time before age 70.

So why would one do that? Suppose you retire at 67, file for Social Security, and then a year later get a consulting job. You may decide that you don't need Social Security income for the upcoming year. When you restart them, your benefits will be 8 percent
 higher due to accrued delayed retirement credits and will remain higher for the rest of your life.

3. Spousal Benefits

Spousal benefits can be valuable for couples, but specific rules govern eligibility. If one spouse's FRA benefits are less than half of the other spouse's FRA benefits, the spouse with lower benefits are entitled to their own benefits or half of their
 spouse's benefits, whichever is greater.

However, there are many rules that govern spousal benefits. For example, if a husband's FRA benefits are $3,000 per month and his wife's FRA benefits are $1,000 per month, she is entitled to collect her benefits of $1,000 per month or 50 percent of her
 husband’s benefits of $1,500 per month. The $1,500 is comprised of her  $1,000 plus $500 as a “spousal add-on.”

To receive the extra spousal add-on when she files at FRA, her husband must already be collecting his Social Security benefits. If he's not, she will not receive the extra $500 until he files for his benefits. Furthermore, if the spouse with the lowest
 benefits files prior to FRA, not only would benefits be reduced, but the spousal add-on would also be reduced. The amount of the reduction would depend on the age at the time of filing—the earlier you file the greater the reduction.

4. Maximum vs the Sweet Spot

When I began consulting on Social Security filing strategies, I assumed my clients wanted me to find them the most money that they were eligible to receive. However, it became clear that the best filing strategy is not necessarily the one that provides
 the highest total lifetime benefits, but rather the one that is optimal for their financial needs.


So what is the optimal filing strategy? It depends. Social Security is not just about how much you receive—it’s also about when you receive it. My approach is to identify a filing strategy that ensures my clients receive the most money possible
 by the time they reach age 70, without leaving too much money on the table over their projected life expectancy.

For example, let's say a couple, both age 65, delay their benefits to age 70 and live to age 90. From age 70 to 90, they would collect a combined $2.2 million in benefits.

Now suppose they take their benefits slightly earlier. The husband takes his benefits starting at age 68 and six months and his wife begins  benefits at age 67. If they did this, they would collect $2.1 million over their lifetimes—$100,000
 less than if they waited to age 70.

So why would getting $100,000 less be better? The extra $100,000 would not be received until age 90—25 years from now. What’s the net present value (NPV) of $100,000 received in 25 years? Also, if they started collecting benefits earlier,
 by the time they would have received their first check at 70, they would have already collected $200,000 in benefits.

Although Social Security is a guaranteed lifetime pension, it's a guaranteed lifetime “potential” pension. You don't know how many checks you're going to receive. Therefore, collecting benefits earlier can reduce the risk of missing out later.
 However, the key is to balance this without sacrificing too much in the long term.

When I do Social Security optimization planning, I try to intentionally give up somewhere between $80,000 and $90,000 in 25 years. The NPV of that amount is relatively low, making it a reasonable trade-off for receiving  higher upfront payments.


The optimal filing strategy, the one that gets you the most money up front without giving up too much down the road, allows you to maximize up-front payments without giving up too much money over one’s life expectancy.

















5. Ex-Spousal Benefits

To collect benefits from a former spouse, the following four criteria must be met:



• Your prior marriage must have lasted 10 years or longer.
• You must be currently unmarried.
• You and your ex-spouse each must be age 62 or older.
• You must have been divorced for at least two years—unless your ex-spouse is already collecting benefits, in which case the two-year waiting period does not apply.

Similar to spousal benefits, a divorced spouse can only receive benefits if their own FRA benefits are less than half of their ex-spouse’s benefits. The lower-earning spouse is entitled to either their benefits or half of their spouse's benefits,
 whichever is higher. 

For example, let’s say an ex-husband’s FRA benefits are $3,000 and his ex-wife’s FRA benefits are $1,000—the ex-wife would be entitled to collect $1,500, which would be made up of her $1,000 plus a $500 ex-spousal add-on.

Please note, if the ex-husband remarries, his ex-wife is still eligible to collect full ex-spousal benefits and survivor benefits, provided she does not remarry. The only exception is if the ex-spouse remarries after age 60. In that case, she is still
 eligible to collect ex-spousal survivor benefits but not ex-spousal benefits.


6. Ex-spousal Survivor Benefits

To qualify for ex-spousal survivor benefits, you must meet the same four criteria for divorced spousal benefits. If you have not remarried, you can collect 100 percent of your ex-spouse’s benefits if they were to die before you.

However, if you remarry, you will no longer be eligible to collect survivor benefits from your former spouse. The exception, however, is if you remarry after age 60—in that case, you can still collect 100 percent of your ex-spouse’s benefits,
 even if your ex-spouse remarried before their passing. 

If your ex-spouse remarried and later passed away, both you and his new spouse would be eligible to receive survivor benefits equal to 100 percent of his benefit amount. You do not have to split survivor benefits.

7. Child Benefits

If a parent is collecting Social Security benefits and has minor children under 18 (or 19 if still in high school), each child is eligible to receive 50 percent of the parents'
 FRA benefits—even if the parent filed early and receives a reduced amount.


For example, if the parent's FRA benefits are $3,600, but they chose to file early at age 62, reducing their benefits to $2,520 per month. Their child would still receive 50 percent of the $3,600 or $1,800 per month until they turn 18 (or 19 if they're
 still in high school).

If the parent predeceases the child, the amount the child's receives increases to 75 percent of the parent's FRA benefits, as a child survivor benefit. That child can collect child survivor benefits up until they are 18 (or 19 if they are still in high
 school).

If there are multiple children, each child would be eligible to collect 75 percent  of the FRA benefits. However, there is a family maximum—typically 150-180 percent of the parent’s full FRA benefits amount. Therefore, each child would
 be eligible for benefits, but the amount received would be reduced due to the family maximum. The total combined benefits paid to all members of one family cannot exceed the family maximum amount.

8. Child-In-Care Benefits

Social Security child-in-care benefits may apply if one parent is collecting their Social Security benefits, the other spouse is not collecting their Social Security benefits, and they have a minor child. The parent who is not collecting their Social
 Security benefits may be eligible to collect child-in-care benefits equal to 50 percent of her spouse’s FRA benefits until their child reaches age sixteen.

For example, if the father filed at FRA and is collecting $3,000 a month, and the mother has earned income under $23,400 (in 2025), then the mother can collect child-in-care benefits equal to 50 percent of the husband's $3,000 or $1,500 a month. She can
 collect that benefit until the child reaches age 16. The child can also collect 50 percent of that $3,000 as a child benefit until that child turns 18, or 19 if still in high school. However, there is a family maximum, which says the three of them
 can't receive a combined amount totaling more than 150–180 percent of the husband’s FRA benefits. Therefore, if the child and the child-in-care benefits are both being paid, these benefits may be reduced due to the family maximum. When
 the child turns 16, the child-in-care benefits will end. At that time, the child who is still under age 18 will see an increase in their benefits to the full 50 percent of the father’s FRA benefits amount until the child turns 18 (or 19 if they're
 still in high school).




9. Survivor Benefits

For a surviving spouse to qualify for survivor benefits, the marriage must have lasted for at least nine months. However, if death occurred as a result of an accident, versus a health event, there is no minimum amount of time that you have to be married.


A surviving spouse can collect survivor benefits as early as age 60 (or 50, if they are disabled), but it would be a reduced amount if taken any time before FRA. For example, if they collected at age 60, they would get 28 1/2 percent less than if they
 waited until FRA to file. The percentage the survivor receives is not dependent on the age of the deceased when they pass but rather on the age of the surviving spouse when survivor benefits are filed.

For a married couple, at the death of the first spouse, the surviving spouse gets the higher of their two Social Security checks—not both. If the deceased spouse is not yet collecting their Social Security benefits, it will not impact the surviving
 spouse to collect survivor benefits. The amount the surviving spouse would receive would be equal to the accrued value of the deceased spouse’s benefits at the time they passed. An ex-spouse can also collect survivor benefits from a deceased
 ex-spouse as long as the surviving ex-spouse did not remarry before age 60.

10. Estate/Charitable Planning

Couples with a net worth above $28 million in 2025 (or single people with a net worth above $14 million) are subject to a federal estate tax equal to 40 percent of the amount of their net worth above $28 million. If married, the estate tax is due at the
 death of the second spouse. If single, the estate tax is due upon their death.

Since most high-net-worth people do not need Social Security for income purposes, the advice they typically receive is to defer the start of benefits to age 70. By doing so they avoid paying income taxes on their Social Security benefits until age 70.
 By deferring the start of Social Security benefits, they can also take advantage of the 8 percent per year increase in their Social Security benefits from FRA to age 70 due to delayed retirement credits. This will result in them receiving their maximum
 benefits at age 70.

However, instead of delaying the start of their benefits to age 70, my recommendation is for them to do the exact opposite and start their benefits as early as possible. For example, if a couple could receive a combined $50,000 a year if they filed at
 their FRA ages versus say $75,000 at age 70, I would suggest that they consider taking the $50,000 at FRA. After taxes, that $50,000 may net them around $35,000. They can then gift the $35,000 per year into an irrevocable life insurance trust and
 fund for example a $2 million life insurance policy. By doing so, they are using their combined after-tax Social Security benefit payments to fund a $2 million life insurance death benefit, which will be both income and estate tax free. This way,
 even if they passed on after having received only one check from Social Security to pay their life insurance premium, they would have converted a “potential” retirement income stream from Social Security benefits into a guaranteed $2 million
 income and estate tax- free asset. The life insurance death benefit could be used to help pay their estate taxes or leave a financial legacy for their family.

Please note, you do not have to be a high-net-worth person to take advantage of this strategy. Anyone could use a portion of their Social Security benefits to fund life insurance or long-term care insurance or make charitable contributions. This strategy
 would likely be for people who don't need to collect Social Security benefits for income and who want to leverage the value of those benefits.

Deferring the start of Social Security to avoid taxation is less important, in my opinion, than utilizing benefits early and leveraging their value. Although Social Security is a guaranteed lifetime pension, it's a guaranteed lifetime “potential”
 pension. You don't know how many checks you're going to receive over your lifetime. It may, therefore, be better to secure benefits earlier and leverage the value of those benefits by funding life insurance or long-term care insurance.

Social Security is a complex program with many possible filing options. It is important to not just know the rules but also determine the optimal way to integrate Social Security into an overall retirement income and estate tax plan. These top ten strategies
 are only the beginning in helping you to identify what your optimal filing strategy should be.