Suze Orman’s Social Security Advice for Married Couples Got Fresh Support From Census Data

Quick Read

• Census data, as analyzed by Investopedia from the Current Population Survey, shows that about 6.6 million retiree households, or 1 in 5, lived on less than $2,000 a month in 2025. Nearly 4 in 5 of those households were made up of one person. Only 7% of married retiree households fell below that level, compared with more than a third of retirees living alone.

  

• A 72-year-old widow with a $3,600 monthly budget keeps a $3,100 survivor benefit because her husband delayed claiming until 70. If he had claimed at 62, the payment would have been $1,750, or $250 below the Census line. That gap equals $1,350 a month, or $243,000 over 15 years before cost-of-living increases.

• Her $1.2 million IRA can cover a $6,000 shortfall this year without federal tax. At 73, however, the required withdrawal of $45,283 creates a $5,942 tax bill as a single filer; the same income on a joint return would owe $2,068.

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Suze Orman’s advice to married couples — have the higher earner wait until 70 to claim Social Security — took on new weight after Census data showed that one in five retiree households lived on less than $2,000 a month in 2025. The survey found that nearly four in five of those households were single-person households. Investopedia’s analysis of the Current Population Survey put the total at about 6.6 million retiree households below the line, with a typical income of roughly $1,270 a month and a typical Social Security check of about $970.

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Married retirees rarely appear in that lowest fifth: about 7% of married retiree households live on less than $2,000 a month, compared with more than a third of retirees who live alone. Seen that way, the Census figures serve as a warning to married couples, because the households most likely to fall into the bottom fifth are often the result of one spouse dying and the other continuing alone. The measure is income, not total assets, so a widow with savings is not necessarily in distress. The real issue is which Social Security check survives.

Orman stated the point plainly in June: “If you are married, please have the higher earner wait as long as possible, ideally until 70,” she wrote on her site. “The surviving spouse receives the larger of the two benefits.” Here is how that can look for a 72-year-old widow with a $1.2 million IRA and a $3,100 Social Security check — and how your own budget may compare.

Who the Census counts under $2,000

The typical retiree household took in about $53,100 last year, or about $4,400 a month. About 21% lived on less than $2,000.

Within that bottom group, the typical household lived on about $15,200 a year, slightly below the Census Bureau’s poverty threshold of $15,440 for a single person age 65 or older. Nearly three-quarters of those retirees received at least 90% of their income from Social Security and Supplemental Security Income, and their median benefit was about $970 a month, compared with an average retired-worker benefit of $2,089 as of September, according to the Social Security Administration. A small benefit, claimed early or earned on a short work history, can leave very little else to rely on.

Living alone is the key dividing line, not age. Married retirees had a median household income of about $83,000, while retirees living alone had about $35,000. One caution: Census and Social Security researchers say retirees underreport pension and account income, so the bottom fifth may be somewhat smaller than the figures suggest.

The couple that matched the typical household

The widow in this example is 72 and lives in Ohio in the house she and her husband paid off years ago. He died in the spring. At 67, his full Social Security benefit would have been $2,500 a month. By waiting until 70, he increased it 24% to $3,100. Her own benefit, built from a shorter career, was $1,300. Together, their monthly checks totaled $4,400, which matches the Census figure for the typical retiree household’s total income. Their spending was about $3,600, so the checks alone left an $800 cushion. On top of that, his rollover IRA — now hers — held $1.2 million, allowing her to delay required withdrawals until 73.

The day the second check stops

Social Security pays the surviving spouse the larger of the two benefits and ends the smaller one. Her $1,300 benefit stopped. His $3,100 benefit continued, since the survivor benefit includes the delayed-retirement credits he earned by waiting. Household Social Security income dropped by $1,300 a month, or 30%, the day she became a one-person household.

Now consider the opposite scenario. If he had claimed at 62, his benefit would have been 70% of $2,500, or $1,750. That is what she would be living on now: $250 a month below the Census line, alongside the 6.6 million households in the bottom fifth. His choice at 62 is worth $1,350 a month to her for life, or $16,200 a year and $243,000 over 15 years before any cost-of-living increase. That is the gift Orman is talking about. If you are the higher earner in your household and have not filed yet, that decision is still yours.

Her budget against the number

Her expenses did not drop much after his death. A paid-off home, a car and Medicare still cost roughly what they cost for two people.

• Property tax, insurance, utilities and upkeep on the paid-off house: $1,050

• Groceries and eating out: $600

• Car — insurance, gas and repairs: $400

• Medicare Part B $202.90, Medigap Plan G $180, Part D $47, dental and out-of-pocket costs $150: $580

• Phone, internet and TV: $150

• Church and gifts: $250

• Trips to see the kids: $300

• Clothing, personal care and everything else: $270

Total: $3,600 a month, or $43,200 a year.

Compared with the Census benchmark, her survivor benefit covers 86% of her budget. The remaining gap is $500 a month, or $6,000 a year, which equals 0.50% of her IRA. The typical household in the bottom fifth, at $1,270 a month, has just 35% of that budget to live on, while the $2,000 line itself represents 56% of it. A $3,600 monthly budget for one person in a paid-off home is not unusual. If your numbers look similar, the deciding factor in which Census category you fall into may be the survivor benefit, which depends on when the higher earner claims.

The tax bill that arrives at 73

She will file as single, and that is where the rest of the warning comes in. Her first full year on her own is manageable. Social Security of $37,200 plus a $6,000 IRA withdrawal gives her provisional income of $24,600, which is below the $25,000 threshold where benefits begin to be taxed. Her deductions as a single filer age 65 or older total $24,150. Her federal income tax is $0.

When she turns 73, the IRS determines her withdrawal. The first required minimum distribution on $1.2 million is $1,200,000 divided by 26.5, or $45,283. Under 2026 rules, that makes $29,901 of her Social Security taxable, lifts her taxable income to $51,045 and creates a $5,942 tax bill, with $645 of income in the 22% bracket. The same $82,483 on a joint return for a couple both over 65 would owe $2,068. The $3,873 difference is the widow’s penalty: the same money taxed under the single schedule with half the deductions.

Medicare works the same way. For 2026, the income-related surcharge threshold is $109,000 of modified adjusted gross income for a single filer and $218,000 for a married couple. She has $33,816 of room below that level at 73, and a larger IRA, a part-time job or a Roth conversion in the wrong year could use that cushion quickly. If you expect to file as single someday, those are the lines to plan around while you still can convert on a joint return.

Where the plan is weak

Her situation works because of two decisions her husband made: he waited until 70, and he left an IRA that she can draw down at about half a percent a year. Without the IRA, she would live on $3,100 against $3,600 of expenses and have to trim spending. Without the delayed claim, she would be below $2,000 even with a $1.2 million account that she must begin drawing down at 73, and at $1,850 a month the draw would equal 1.8% of the balance, which is sustainable, though every dollar would be taxed as ordinary income on a single return. The Census bottom fifth is mostly made up of people who had neither cushion. If there is a higher earner in your household, this is the lever Orman keeps emphasizing.

The bottom line

The Census says 1 in 5 retiree households live on less than $2,000 a month, and nearly 4 in 5 of those households are single-person households. For married couples, the survivor benefit is the number that helps keep you out of that group. In this example, waiting until 70 left the widow $1,100 above the line with a $3,100 check; claiming at 62 would have left her $250 below it. Her $1.2 million IRA can cover a $6,000 gap with no tax this year, but it produces a $5,942 bill at 73 that a couple with the same income would not face. Compare your own budget with $2,000 a month and with the larger of your two benefits. If those figures are close, the higher earner’s claiming date may be the most valuable decision left in your household.

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