How does COLA affect Social Security spousal benefits with different filing ages?

I've dealt with this exact situation helping my parents optimize their Social Security. Here's how COLA works with spousal benefits: Scenario 1: When your wife claims at 70, your total benefit will be $2,000. The top-up amount itself doesn't get separate COLA adjustments. You'll get your PIA with COLA ($1,375) plus the original top-up amount ($625). Scenario 2: If you both claim at FRA, you'll receive $1,875 initially. After three years with 10% COLA, you'd receive $2,062.50 because COLA applies to your entire benefit payment, including the spousal portion. This is one reason why sometimes it makes sense for the higher-earning spouse to file before 70 if the lower-earning spouse would benefit from getting COLA on the combined benefit sooner. The math gets complicated though because the higher earner gives up their delayed retirement credits.

I think ur missing something important. The higher earning spouse gets delayed retirement credits of 8% per year after FRA. So waiting till 70 means 24% more for life!! Thats HUGE and probably beats any COLA advantage for the lower earner. Also remember survivor benefits - if the higher earner passes away first, the surviving spouse gets the higher amount.

Social Security rules are SO confusing!!! I've been trying to figure out my own situation and keep getting different answers from the SSA reps I talk to. One told me COLA applies to everything, another said only to the base benefit. No wonder we're all confused. Has anyone actually verified this with official documentation from SSA?

This is why I just took my benefits at 62!! Too much math and too many unknowns. Who knows how many years we'll even be around to collect? I'd rather have the money now than try to maximize some theoretical amount later. Just my 2 cents!!

Wait im confused about one thing. Does the spouse with lower PIA have to file for their own benefits first before getting the spousal top-up? Or can they just file for spousal benefits only?

I called the SSA office today for clarification, and after a 45-minute wait, I can confirm that COLA does apply to the entire benefit amount once you're receiving it. The representative also mentioned that the spousal benefit is recalculated at the time the higher-earning spouse files. So in my Scenario 1, my total would indeed be $2,000 ($1,375 + $625), not accounting for any potential COLA on my wife's PIA over those three years.

It's worth noting that your specific birth dates can also affect optimal filing strategies. Since you mentioned you're both turning 67 next year, if your birthdays are several months apart, there might be some additional strategic opportunities around the specific month of filing. Also, if you have any earnings history with pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security (like some government positions), the WEP and GPO provisions might affect these calculations.

One thing to consider in your calculations is how COLA affects your wife's PIA while she's delaying from 67 to 70. If there's 10% cumulative COLA during those three years, her PIA would grow from $3,750 to $4,125. This means when she finally claims at 70, her benefit would be $5,445 ($4,125 × 1.32), not just the original $4,950 ($3,750 × 1.32). And importantly, this higher PIA also affects your spousal benefit calculation - your top-up would be based on half of her COLA-adjusted PIA. So in Scenario 1, you might actually receive more than the $2,000 you calculated, depending on how much COLA accumulates during her delay period. This is another factor that makes the timing decision quite complex!

This is an excellent discussion! I'm a benefits counselor and want to add one more consideration that often gets overlooked: the Medicare Part B premium implications. When you're receiving Social Security benefits, your Medicare Part B premiums are automatically deducted from your monthly payment. If you're in a higher income bracket due to IRMAA (Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount), delaying Social Security might actually help reduce your Medicare costs in future years by potentially keeping you in a lower income tier. This is especially relevant for couples with substantial retirement account balances who might be doing Roth conversions or have required minimum distributions. The interplay between Social Security timing, Medicare costs, and overall tax planning can sometimes tip the scales in favor of different filing strategies than pure Social Security optimization would suggest.

Great question about IRMAA thresholds! For most people with modest PIAs like yours, IRMAA typically isn't a major concern unless you have significant other income sources. The 2024 IRMAA thresholds start at $103,000 for individuals ($206,000 for married filing jointly), so you'd need substantial retirement account distributions, pensions, or other income on top of Social Security to hit those levels. However, the Medicare considerations become more relevant in a few scenarios: 1) If you're planning large Roth conversions in your early retirement years, 2) If you have employer pensions that push your income higher, or 3) If one spouse has significantly higher lifetime earnings that weren't reflected in their PIA due to the Social Security wage cap. A good rule of thumb is that if your projected retirement income (including Social Security, pensions, and retirement account distributions) will exceed about $85,000 individually or $170,000 as a couple, it's worth running the Medicare cost calculations alongside your Social Security optimization. The premium increases can be substantial - sometimes $200-500+ per month per person in the higher tiers. For your situation specifically, I'd focus primarily on the Social Security optimization, but it's always wise to model out your total retirement income picture to make sure there aren't any surprise Medicare costs lurking!

As someone who went through this exact decision process last year, I want to emphasize how valuable it is to model multiple COLA scenarios. We assumed different inflation rates (2%, 3%, and 4% annually) and ran the math for various filing combinations. What we discovered was that the break-even point between "wife files at FRA" vs "wife delays to 70" was much more sensitive to COLA assumptions than we initially thought. One tool that really helped us was creating a spreadsheet that calculated the cumulative lifetime benefits under different longevity assumptions. We modeled scenarios where each spouse lives to 80, 85, 90, and 95, and factored in the survivor benefit implications that others have mentioned. The results showed that even modest differences in COLA (say 2.5% vs 3.5% annually) could shift the optimal strategy by a year or more. Also, don't forget that your state tax treatment of Social Security benefits might influence the timing decision. Some states don't tax Social Security at all, while others have various thresholds. If you're in a state that taxes benefits, receiving larger amounts sooner (with COLA applied to the full benefit) might push you into higher state tax brackets. The complexity is real, but taking the time to model these scenarios thoroughly will give you much more confidence in whatever decision you make!

This thread has been incredibly educational! As someone just starting to think about Social Security planning (I'm 58), I'm realizing there's so much more complexity than I initially understood. The interplay between COLA, delayed retirement credits, spousal benefits, Medicare premiums, and state taxes creates a web of considerations that's honestly a bit overwhelming. What strikes me most is how personalized these decisions need to be. It seems like there's no one-size-fits-all answer, and the "optimal" strategy really depends on your specific financial situation, health outlook, and risk tolerance. I'm wondering if there are any professional resources (beyond just calling SSA) that specialize in helping couples model these complex scenarios? Given all the variables discussed here - from inflation assumptions to longevity projections to tax implications - it feels like this might be worth investing in some professional guidance rather than trying to navigate it all solo. Also, for those who have gone through this process, how far in advance did you start planning? Is starting at 58 too early, or should I be getting more serious about running these calculations now?