The Supreme Court’s five-to-four decision to make same-sex marriage legal throughout the country has massive Social Security implications for couples whose marriages are now constitutionally recognized.

Just how massive? In one hypothetical projection laid out by researchers at Financial Engines, the Sunnyvale, California-based provider of managed accounts for 401(k) plans, single filers can earn nearly $350,000 more over their lifetime as a married couple if they utilize the most of their available benefits.

For all of the ramifications the ruling will have on newly-recognized marriages—health care, tax, and inheritance law are widely cited as the most impacted—Wei Hu, vice president of financial research at Financial Engines calls the consequences on Social Security “huge.”

Hu lead a team that spent several years building a Social Security planner that helps married couples maximize their available benefits.

“Claiming Social Security is a complicated process,” said Hu. “We think we’ve created a tool that makes the process of maximizing benefits as easy as possible.”

By incorporating spousal and survivor benefits, and delaying benefits claims until age 70, even married couples of typical means can see six-figure gains in benefits over a lifetime.

For same-sex couples, the benefits are magnified. A couple age 64 and 62, with the higher of the two earners making $80,000, that lives to be 84 and 90, will earn about $140,000 more in spousal and survival benefits.

If they optimize their benefits by waiting to claim, they earn about another $202,000.

“Understanding how to file and when to file—these are massive decisions that we think people need help with,” said Hu. “No other retirement vehicle—401(k)s or pensions—can be altered to create such significant new benefits.”

And that goes for any married couple, says Hu, same-sex or not.

Since rolling out the Social Security estimator last spring, Hu says the evidence is pretty strong that a lot of Americans are leaving money on the table when it comes to collecting what is rightfully theirs.

The more than 100,000 users in the past year have seen a household average of $100,000 in benefit gains by optimizing their Social Security strategy, according to Hu.

The calculator is available online to anyone—you do not have to be a participant in a workplace plan to uses Financial Engines core products. And it is free.

“Social Security is one of biggest retirement assets people have. We feel it’s that important that everyone has a trusted guide. The same-sex ruling is obviously important for these couples. But it’s also an opportune time for all married couples to examine their claiming options to make sure they are getting the most out of what they’ve earned,” explained Hu.

He’s seen other calculators, but is partial to the one he and his team have built, because of its more thorough longevity modeling, he said. The platform also provides users with instructions on what type of application to file. “We try to make it as easy as possible by using language a Social Security worker will recognize,” he said.

Users can supply their own earnings data, or, if they are a participant in a Financial Engines managed account, the platform can access a user’s earnings information via their 401(k) account.

Hu wouldn’t say how much money the company spent developing the platform. Assets under management for the company increased to $109 billion last quarter, a 19 percent year-over-year increase. Financial Engines retirement and managed account platforms service 9 million participants across 600 plan sponsors.

“The core mission of the company is to help people retire well. To the extent that we can do that, that ultimately is our goal. It’s vital people pay attention to understanding their Social Security benefits,” said Hu. “We think out tool best helps them do that.”

Instant Insights /

SCOTUS decision means boon in Social Security for same-sex couples

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