Social Security
Your Social Security Timing Could Mean $100,000 More — or Less — Over Your Lifetime.
Your Retirement Income Foundation
When it comes to retirement, many people think first about their savings, their home, or their land. But here is the truth: your largest income-producing asset over the next 20 to 30 years may very well be your Social Security benefit. How you choose to claim — when and how — is one of the most important financial decisions you will make. The right strategy can add tens of thousands of dollars in lifetime income. The wrong one can leave you with gaps you cannot easily recover from.
Social Security is also one of the few guaranteed, inflation-adjusted income sources you will have in retirement. That makes it a planning decision that deserves the same careful thought as any major financial move.
Mark Rogers, Certified in Long-Term Care (CLTC) and Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow (LUTCF), has spent more than 20 years helping pre-retirees and retirees throughout eastern Washington build retirement income plans that start with Social Security and build from there. His approach has always been the same: understand your options fully before you make a permanent decision. If you want to go deeper before you schedule, the Talking Turning 65 podcast covers Social Security timing, spousal benefits, survivor strategies, and more in plain English — free, any time.
Your Social Security claiming age and your Medicare enrollment timing are connected decisions. If you delay Social Security past 65, you need to enroll in Medicare Part B manually — missing that window carries permanent premium penalties.
Every Situation Is Different. Every Strategy Should Be Too
Married Couples
The higher earner's claiming age determines the survivor benefit for life — making Social Security one coordinated household decision, not two separate ones. We work through every scenario before either of you files to maximize lifetime income and protect the surviving spouse's financial foundation.
Divorced Individuals
If you were married for 10 or more years, you may be eligible for spousal benefits on your ex-spouse's record — up to 50% of their full retirement age benefit. Many people miss this entirely. We review your eligibility before you file to make sure you do not leave it behind.
Widows and Widowers
The timing of when you switch between survivor benefits and your own benefit can mean thousands of dollars in additional lifetime income. Getting the sequence right is the only way to make sure you receive everything you are entitled to.
Single Retirees
For retirees with blended income sources — annuities, IRA distributions, land income, or rental income — coordinating your filing date with your full income picture is where the real planning happens. File too early and you reduce your guaranteed income floor for the rest of your life.
Your Personalized Good-Better-Best Social Security Plan
Most retirees are handed one Social Security filing date and told it is their best option. We do not work that way.
We build a personalized Good-Better-Best scenario for every client — three distinct claiming strategies, coordinated with your other income streams, showing how each option affects your total retirement income over time. The scenarios account for your health, your spouse's benefit, your other assets, and the break-even math specific to your numbers. The plan is yours to keep, whether or not you decide to work with us further.
This is the starting point for every Social Security conversation we have. It is the difference between guessing and knowing — and it costs you nothing to find out.
"Before 65 or after 65, this decision matters. We help you make it with clarity — not guesswork."
— Mark Rogers, CLTC, LUTCF
Why Tri-Cities Families Trust Us With This Decision
"I have walked through this decision with hundreds of families across eastern Washington. Every situation is different — and that is exactly why we never hand someone a generic answer."
— Mark Rogers, CLTC, LUTCF
Social Security is a permanent decision. The advisor you work with on this question should have a track record you can evaluate before you sit down with them. Mark Rogers has spent more than 20 years working through Social Security strategies with pre-retirees and retirees across eastern Washington — including married couples coordinating spousal benefits, widows navigating survivor benefit timing, and divorced individuals who had no idea benefits were available to them on an ex-spouse's record.
Every recommendation begins with your full financial picture — income needs, existing assets, health considerations, and spousal situation — before a single claiming age is suggested. We work with major carriers for annuity and insurance products, which means when Social Security is paired with a guaranteed income strategy, the product recommendation fits your situation, not a contract we are obligated to push.
Social Security Planning Questions — Answered Directly
What is the best age to take Social Security benefits?
There is no single best age — the right claiming age depends on your health, your spouse's benefit, your other income sources, and your break-even calculation. The difference between claiming early and waiting until 70 can be significant in total lifetime income. A personalized Good-Better-Best analysis built around your specific numbers is the only way to know your optimal age with confidence.
Can a divorced spouse collect Social Security on an ex-spouse's record?
Yes. If you were married for 10 or more years, are currently unmarried, and are at least 62 years old, you may be eligible to collect spousal benefits based on your ex-spouse's earnings record — up to 50% of their full retirement age benefit. This does not reduce what your ex-spouse receives, and it applies regardless of whether they have remarried. Many divorced individuals are unaware this benefit exists. We review your eligibility before you file to ensure you do not miss it.
What happens to Social Security when a spouse dies?
When a spouse dies, the surviving spouse keeps the larger of the two benefits and loses the smaller. Survivor benefits can be as high as 100% of the deceased spouse's benefit. The timing of when you claim survivor benefits — and whether to claim your own benefit first or the survivor benefit first — significantly affects lifetime income. This sequencing decision is one of the most consequential in Social Security planning and should be made with a personalized strategy, not a general rule.
Does Washington state tax Social Security benefits?
Washington state imposes no income tax on Social Security benefits — one of the real advantages of retiring here compared to most other states. However, up to 85% of your benefit may still be subject to federal income tax depending on your combined income, which includes adjusted gross income, nontaxable interest, and half of your Social Security benefit. Managing the sequence of annuity withdrawals, required minimum distributions, and your benefit start date can meaningfully reduce federal tax exposure on your benefits.
What is a Social Security break-even analysis?
A break-even analysis calculates the age at which the total lifetime income from waiting to claim exceeds the total lifetime income from claiming earlier. Break-even analysis is one input in a claiming decision, but it must be combined with your health outlook, spousal situation, and other income sources to produce a genuinely useful strategy.
How do spousal Social Security benefits work?
A spouse who has not worked, or who has a lower earnings record, may be eligible to receive up to 50% of their spouse's full retirement age benefit. Spousal benefits are available at age 62 but are reduced if claimed before full retirement age. The higher earner's claiming age does not affect the spousal benefit amount — but it does affect the survivor benefit, which is why coordinating both spouses' filing ages as a single strategy consistently produces better outcomes than treating them as two separate decisions.
How does Social Security work with farm income, land income, or rental income in eastern Washington?
For retirees with income from farmland, irrigation rights, rental properties, or agricultural operations, Social Security must be coordinated with a blended income picture that most national planning content ignores entirely. Land income and rental income count toward combined income for federal Social Security taxation purposes, which affects how much of your benefit is taxable. The filing age that optimizes net income for a retiree with blended income sources may be different from the optimal age for a retiree whose only income is Social Security. We plan for the full picture, including the assets that make eastern Washington retirement genuinely different.
What is the Good-Better-Best Social Security claiming strategy?
The Good-Better-Best approach presents three distinct claiming scenarios — each with a different filing age and coordination strategy — so you can see how each option affects your total retirement income over time before you make a permanent decision. Each scenario is built around your specific benefit amount, your spouse's benefit, your other income sources, and your break-even calculation. The result is a personalized plan that makes the tradeoffs visible and the right choice clear — before you file, not after.
Serving Pre-Retirees and Retirees Across the Tri-Cities and Eastern Washington
My Safe Money Matters provides Social Security planning and retirement income guidance to residents of Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, Prosser, and West Richland, and communities throughout Benton, Franklin, and Yakima counties. In-person and virtual consultations are both available. If you are approaching retirement in eastern Washington and want a personalized Social Security strategy before you file, we are your neighbor — and we are ready to help.
Take the First Step Before You File.
Your Social Security claiming age is one of the most permanent financial decisions you will make. A free 20-minute consultation with Mark Rogers gives you an honest look at your options — with no obligation and no pitch in the first call. Just clarity on where you stand before you decide.