New research suggests there could be an optimal strategy for couples trying to decide when to collect Social Security. In short: A wife should jump early, and her husband should wait.

Their conclusion: Wives generally should claim benefits at 62 (the earliest eligibility age), and husbands generally should delay filing until 69.

Some guidance came in the June issue of the Journal of Financial Planning. Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, and Mauricio Soto, a researcher at the center, set out to determine the best age for women to claim Social Security. In doing so, the pair also calculated how a wife and husband could accumulate as many Social Security dollars as possible during their years together -- and during the life of the surviving spouse -- given various differences in ages and pre-retirement income.

Courtesy of the Sunday Wall Street Journal

Journal of Financial Planning Summary When Should Women Claim Social Security Benefits?