By Andrea Thompson, CFP, CRPC (US), CCS

The morning after the heartbreak of a lifetime, a Game 7 World Series loss for my beloved Blue Jays to the Dodgers, I found myself limping into Pearson Airport, coffee in hand, on my way to a much-needed family vacation. As fate would have it, we ended up in the lounge chatting with a former Blue Jays player from the 1992–1993 championship roster.

What started as easy small talk turned into a full hour of cross-border financial planning. He and his wife were gracious, curious, and wonderfully candid about their situation. When Social Security came up (a real, near-term decision point for them), I mentioned something that stopped them both mid-sentence:

His wife may qualify for U.S. spousal Social Security benefits.

He blinked.
“She can what?”

Not only had his advisor never brought this up, they had never discussed any of the cross-border implications that could meaningfully affect their retirement income. And this isn’t an isolated story: it’s something I see all the time. Too many advisors focus only on the assets they manage and ignore the broader picture that actually determines a family’s long-term financial security.

So let’s clear up the confusion and walk through what Spousal Social Security benefits are, how they work for Canadian residents, and the key planning points you absolutely don’t want to miss.

Read the full blog post here.