Ask Liz Weston

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Social Security survivor benefits

Q&A: Can I switch from my Social Security to a spousal benefit?

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Dear Liz: I will be 62 in January. My husband turns 70 in July. If I take my Social Security benefits at a reduced rate at 62, can I switch to half of his benefits once he turns 70 and applies? Let’s say my reduced benefit at 62 is $1,000 per month and my husband’s maximized benefit at 70 is $4,000 per month. Can I switch to a spousal benefit for a payment of $2,000?

Answer: You may be able to switch, but you’ll get a lot less than $2,000.

The spousal benefit is based not on what the husband receives, but on his benefit at his full retirement age, which for illustration purposes we’ll say is $3,200. The spousal benefit can be up to half that amount, or $1,600. If you apply at 62, though, you’ll be accepting a permanent reduction in both your own retirement benefit and any future spousal benefit, as I explained in an earlier column. The reduction is steep enough that you probably wouldn’t notice much of a change once your husband applies and you qualify for the spousal addition.

Those are the rules for spousal benefits. Survivor benefits are a different matter. Survivor benefits are based on what your husband actually receives (or what he’s earned, if he dies before starting benefits). Also, the early start of your own benefit wouldn’t reduce the future survivor benefit you receive should he die first.

In many cases, the smart approach to maximizing Social Security benefits means waiting at least until your own full retirement age and often until age 70 to apply. Your mileage may vary, of course, so it can be helpful to use a good Social Security claiming strategies calculator and to carefully read the reports they generate. T. Rowe Price has a free Social Security Optimizer at https://www.troweprice.com/usis/advice/tools/social-security-optimizer/strategy.

Got a question about money? You can submit it here.

Q&A: Can I collect my ex-spouse’s Social Security survivor benefit if he remarries?

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Dear Liz: I was married 37 years. I claimed Social Security at 62 because I needed the monthly income. I learned too late that if I had waited a few more years, my payment would have been much better. They did tell me that if my ex died before me, I would be entitled to have my amount increased to what he was collecting. He probably will die before me due to some serious health problems. He has since remarried to a widow who is receiving Social Security. Does she become the one who collects my ex’s monthly amount if he dies before her, which would mean she would be collecting two checks a month? And I would lose my ability to have my amount increased? I just want to be prepared for what I can expect when/if he departs before me.

Answer: When people qualify for multiple benefits from Social Security, they get the largest of the amounts available to them. So if your ex’s wife is currently receiving her own or a survivor’s benefit and your ex’s benefit is bigger, she would get this larger check as her survivor’s benefit after his death. She wouldn’t be able to collect on two husbands’ earnings records at the same time.

And what she gets doesn’t affect what you get. Since your marriage lasted at least 10 years, you should be eligible for a divorced survivor benefit of up to 100% of your ex’s benefit. Your survivor benefit would only be reduced if you started it before your own full retirement age.

Got a question about money? You can submit it here.

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.