‘I Do Not Recommend Folks Stopping Insurance Just Because They’ve Retired’: Wes Moss to Brian From North Carolina on the Social Security Check That Dies With a Spouse

Brian from North Carolina always assumed his life insurance would end when his paychecks did, until he saw a video of a retiree who kept term coverage in case one spouse died. He took the question to Wes Moss on the October 13, 2026 Ask an Advisor episode of The Clark Howard Podcast. Moss is a certified financial planner and chief investment strategist at Capital Investment Advisors. His answer presented both sides on purpose:

“Brian, there’s no reason you should carry life insurance into retirement. Brian, there’s every reason you should carry life insurance into retirement. I mean, you can make a case either way.”

Then he picked a side. “I do not recommend getting rid of these policies just because you retired.” He explained why: “If one of you passes away, then the other spouse is left with one Social Security payment. Now it should be the higher payment, but you’re still left with a void.”

If you cancel a cheap policy at 66, a surviving spouse could take a five-figure annual pay cut. Nothing would be in place to cover it.

Moss Is Right, and This Year’s Raise Shows Why

Moss’s advice holds up. When one spouse dies, Social Security pays the survivor a single check, whichever of the two benefits is larger. The smaller benefit ends for good.

Moss, who takes listener questions at wesmoss.com/ask, lays out his retirement framework in The Retire Sooner Method.

Retirees spent this fall watching the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment. Summer projections pointed toward 3.3%, and the Social Security Administration made it official at 3.6% on October 14.

For the average couple where both spouses collect, the monthly check rises from $3,238 to $3,355. This comes to an extra $117 a month.

Compare that raise to what happens after a death. The average aged widow or widower living alone will collect $2,005 a month after the COLA. That is $1,350 less than the average couple, a 40% drop in Social Security income.

Over a year, the survivor loses $16,200. The monthly loss is more than 11 times the raise retirees spent the fall waiting for. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, utilities and car costs rarely shrink by 40% when a household goes from two people to one.

How Close Your Two Checks Are Decides Everything

One factor sets how much this matters to you: how big the smaller benefit is compared with the larger one. The two scenarios below use example figures.

Unequal benefits. One spouse collects $3,000 a month and the other collects $500. Moss used that same split in a June episode. If the higher earner dies first, the survivor keeps $3,000 and loses $500 a month, which is $6,000 a year.

Replacing that income with 4% annual withdrawals takes about $150,000 in savings.

Equal benefits. Each spouse collects $2,000. The survivor keeps $2,000 and loses $2,000 a month, which is $24,000 a year. Replacing that takes about $600,000.

For comparison, the new COLA adds only $144 a month to this couple’s combined $4,000.

Couples who earned similar amounts face the biggest gap. In couples with unequal benefits, the survivor benefit already does much of the covering, especially if the higher earner delayed taking. Clark Howard has noted that delaying can leave a surviving spouse with an approximately 30% higher monthly payment for life.

Moss drew a line on cost, too. If an existing term policy has a decent price for the coverage it provides, he asked, “why not have the insurance?” He also said buying a new policy in retirement is typically too expensive. By that point, savings should be funding the lifestyle. Suze Orman makes a similar point: your savings should eventually replace the term insurance policy.

Run These Four Numbers Before You Cancel Any Policy

1. Find your disappearing check. Log in to my Social Security at SSA.gov and write down both spouses’ estimated benefits. The smaller one is the income your household loses when either spouse dies.
2. Turn the gap into a savings target. Multiply the smaller monthly benefit by 12 to get the annual loss. Then divide by 0.04 to see about how much of your portfolio it would take to replace that income at a 4% withdrawal rate.
3. Compare the target to what you already have. If your investable assets cover the target and your current spending, the policy is less essential. If they fall short, the death benefit may be what keeps the survivor’s budget whole.
4. Price what’s left on the policy. Note how many years of level-premium term remain and what you pay each year. Compare those premiums with the annual income gap from step two. Check whether any pension offers a survivor option that already covers part of the hole.

Do this math with your spouse before the next premium comes due.

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