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Social Security survivor benefits

Q&A: How disability income affects survivor benefits

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Dear Liz: My wife and I are essentially the same age (62), high school sweethearts married 44 years. She had a severe stroke at 57 and I became her full-time caregiver. She began receiving Social Security disability benefits about nine months later, at 58. I began taking my Social Security retirement benefits this year. I had a heart attack at 51 and am doubtful I’ll live much past 75 or so. My wife was always the higher-earning spouse so her benefits (equivalent to retiring at 70) are double mine.

First, if my wife passes before I do (which is a toss-up), am I entitled to survivor benefits? Secondly, will my Social Security benefits simply be replaced with the amount my wife currently receives?

Answer: When your wife reaches her full retirement age of 67, her disability benefit will become her retirement benefit. You referenced age 70, when benefits typically max out, but that’s only if they haven’t been started yet.

When one of you dies, the larger of your two benefits will become the survivor’s benefit. The smaller benefit will end.

Q&A: Could spouse’s early start stunt Social Security survivor benefit?

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Dear Liz: My husband and I plan to delay taking Social Security retirement benefits until the higher-earning spouse is 70. This is to ensure the highest possible survivor benefit. However, the lower-earning spouse will be turning 62 at the same time that the higher earning spouse turns 70. We are concerned that the lower-earning spouse’s future survivor benefit will be reduced if the lower earner starts benefits early. When would be the best time for the lower-earning spouse to take retirement benefits and ensure that the survivor’s benefit remains the same?

Answer: The lower earner won’t reduce the survivor benefit by starting early, but they will permanently reduce their own benefit or any spousal benefit they’re owed. Most people are better off waiting at least until their full retirement age to start Social Security benefits so they can avoid this reduction.

Q&A: Early Social Security start doesn’t affect survivor benefits

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Dear Liz: I started collecting my Social Security at age 62 because I had cancer and could not work. My husband is now ill and will pass on soon. Will I still be able to get my husband’s Social Security, which is much higher than mine, when he passes on?

Answer: Yes. Surviving spouses get the larger of a couple’s two Social Security checks. You’ll no longer be able to collect your own benefit.

Q&A: How should I receive Social Security survivor benefits?

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Dear Liz: I am 68 and still working. I plan to wait until age 70 to maximize my benefit before taking Social Security. My spouse (born in 1956) passed away in 2018 after just beginning to draw her Social Security benefits at age 62.

Even though I was the higher earner, I believe that I can draw survivor benefits now from my wife’s Social Security if I apply. I also believe that I can switch to my own benefit when I turn 70, and my benefit would then be higher.

But I cannot find an answer to whether, if I did such a switch at age 70, my benefits would be at maximum because I waited until age 70, or would be less than the maximum because I started taking my wife’s survivor benefits or even worse, because my wife started benefits early. I see many articles that dance all around this question but never answer it. Can you please be the one who answers this question?

Answer: Social Security can be incredibly complex, with different rules applying depending on age, marital status and the type of benefit involved. Survivor benefits have different rules than spousal benefits, for example, and both work differently from the retirement benefit people earn on their own work record. You’re smart to want to understand exactly how the rules affect your individual situation before applying.

You are correct that you can apply for survivor benefits now and then switch to your own retirement benefit when it maxes out at age 70. Your retirement benefit will not be reduced because you collected survivor benefits first, or because your wife started her benefit early.

However, your survivor’s benefit will be smaller than it might have been because of her early start. The survivor benefit is determined by what the deceased spouse was receiving at the time of death.

Survivor benefits can begin as early as age 60, or 50 if the survivor is disabled, or at any age if the survivor cares for minor or disabled children from the marriage.

But starting early would have further reduced your benefit, plus you would have been subject to the earnings test, which withholds $1 for every $2 you earn over a certain limit (which in 2025 is $23,400). The earnings test goes away when you reach full retirement age, which for someone born in 1957 is 66 years and 6 months.

There was no benefit to delaying your application past your full retirement age. That means you’ve missed out on several months of survivor benefits you could have been receiving. You can get six months of back benefits when you apply, but that’s the limit.

Q&A: Widower can file for survivor benefits now and his own later

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Dear Liz: My sister and brother-in-law were both 68 when she passed away last December. She had been on Social Security disability since her mid 50s until it was converted to retirement in her 60s. He is the higher wage earner and still working. Can he file for survivor benefits now, and then file for his own retirement benefits after he stops working when he turns 70?

Answer: Yes. Since your brother-in-law has passed his full retirement age of 67, he won’t face the earnings test that would otherwise reduce any Social Security benefits he receives. His applying for a survivor’s benefit now won’t preclude him from applying for his own benefit later. His own benefit can continue to grow until it’s maxed out at age 70.

Note that survivor benefits have different rules than spousal benefits, which are based on the earnings record of someone who is still alive. When applying for a spousal benefit, you’re also considered to be applying for your own, and you’ll get the larger of the two. There’s no switching later.

Q&A: Timing a Social Security application

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Dear Liz: I know you work to maximize people’s money. I had a thought about the quality of life with Social Security. I took it at 65, which was then full retirement age. I was fully employed and did not need it to live. However, the extra money allowed us the opportunity to travel to all seven continents, help our kids with debts and down payments, and generally enjoy things with the extra cash. Now the full retirement age is 67, so there are fewer years between full retirement age and when benefits max out at 70. But the difference could still be enough for that motor home or world cruise.

Answer: All financial planning requires a balance between current and future spending. If you spend too much in the early years, you may not have enough to make it through the later ones. Retirement planning is further complicated by the fact that we don’t know how long we’ll live or how our health will hold up. We can delay spending so long that we’re no longer able to do the things we want to do, such as travel.

Still, the fact remains that when one spouse dies, one Social Security check goes away. That can lead to a devastating drop in income for the survivor. Because the survivor receives the larger of the two benefits, and may have to live on that amount for years, it almost always makes sense for the higher earner to delay filing as long as possible.