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6 posts
For couples claiming is two decisions tied by survivor benefits. Why the higher earner age matters most and how joint life expectancy shapes lifetime income.
A surviving spouse keeps the larger of the two checks, not both. How the survivor amount is set, when it can start and why the higher earner's age matters.
A spouse can receive up to half of the other's full benefit, but only once both have filed, and waiting past full retirement age adds nothing to it.
Three structures: fully joint, fully separate, or proportional. Which you pick matters less than agreeing the amount above which you check with each other.
The deposit is not the number you need. Closing costs, reserves and a move-in buffer add more than half again to it at 10% down, and that is where buyers get caught.
$250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. The third clause is the one that matters, and it is how a couple insures $780,000 at a single institution without opening anything new.