Wife's S.S.

[garrynky]

When I run my numbers through Firecalc I don't enter my wifes social security. The reason being is that her's will be less than mine and in the event that one of us dies, my benefit is higher and would be the one chosen. If one of us dies in the early years of retirement, the income need is still the same. If we both live to a ripe old age it doesn't matter. I figure if I can make the numbers work on my S.S, her's will be a cushion.

I'm curious how others view this logic.

 

[kramer]

Howdy garrynky,

Seems pretty sound to me. Keep in mind, however, that the situations also have different expenses. If you pass away before your wife, all she loses is her smaller SS check (since she will start getting yours). And I bet that you cost more to support and feed than her check

But if you can support both of you on the single SS check, that is certainly building in some safety and there is nothing wrong with that.

Kramer