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widow benefits

Q&A: A remarried military widow navigates Social Security survivor benefits

July 1, 2024 By Liz Weston

Dear Liz: My wife of 15 years is now 58 and I am 62. She is a military widow who was married for 17 years before her previous husband’s death. I believe she is ineligible to collect on her deceased spouse’s Social Security record because she married me. Is that right? Instead, can she collect her much smaller benefit starting at 62? I plan on waiting to apply until age 70. Can she switch from her reduced amount to half of mine at 67?

Answer: You’re correct that your marriage would prevent your wife from getting survivor benefits based on a previous spouse’s earnings record. Only people who marry after they turn 60 can get survivor benefits from a deceased spouse while married to a live one. She also would be eligible for survivor benefits from her previous husband if your current marriage ends.

Survivor benefits can be claimed as early as age 60, or at 50 if the survivor is disabled, or at any age if the survivor cares for the deceased’s child who is under 16 or has a disability. Retirement and spousal benefits, meanwhile, can start as early as 62.

Such an early start, however, means accepting a substantial reduction in her checks. Her benefits also will be subject to the earnings test, which reduces benefits by $1 for every $2 earned over a certain amount, which in 2024 is $22,320. The earnings test disappears at full retirement age, which for her is 67.

Your wife can’t claim a spousal benefit until you file for your own benefit, but she’ll be able to switch from hers once you apply.

Since there are several complicating factors to this situation, consider using a paid service such as Maximize My Social Security or Social Security Solutions to investigate the best claiming strategy.

Filed Under: Q&A, Social Security Tagged With: military spouses, Social Security, Social Security survivor benefits, survivor benefits, taking Social Security early, widow, widow benefits

Q&A: Caught between Social Security’s two retirement ages

June 3, 2024 By Liz Weston

Dear Liz: I’ve received multiple conflicting answers from Social Security and hope you can clarify. My husband waited to collect until he was 70 and unfortunately passed away soon afterward. I am 66 and was instructed to apply for survivor benefits because I would be eligible to collect his enhanced benefit at age 66 plus two months. I received an “approval of application” letter in January 2024 and was expecting payment on March 20, but nothing! I went on the SSA.gov website and saw my status was “ineligible due to being employed or still working.” I’m an independent human resources consultant. I finally got through to Social Security on the phone and was told I wouldn’t be able to collect his benefits (which would be higher than mine due to his age and earnings) until I was at full retirement age, 66 plus six months. Is this true?

Answer: Yes. You just got squeezed between two different types of full retirement age.

Many people don’t realize they have two full retirement ages, one for retirement benefits and a slightly younger one for survivor benefits. At 66 and two months, you qualified for your full survivor benefit, meaning that the amount wasn’t reduced because of an early start. However, the earnings test applies because you hadn’t yet reached your full retirement age for retirement benefits. The earnings test reduces your benefit by $1 for every $2 you earn over a certain limit, which in 2024 is $22,320.

The good news is that the earnings test will end when you reach 66 years and six months, and you’ll start receiving your survivor benefit regardless of how much you get paid.

Filed Under: Q&A, Social Security Tagged With: full retirement age, Social Security, Social Security survivor benefits, survivor benefits, widow benefits

Q&A: Social Security survivor benefits

March 10, 2015 By Liz Weston

Dear Liz: I earned more than my wife, who died at age 57 after 18 years of marriage. When I turn 60, can I take survivor Social Security benefits based on her work record and then request my benefit at age 70?

Answer: In a word, yes, and doing so may be smart.

Survivor benefits are different from spousal benefits, which inflict some severe penalties for starting checks early. When you start spousal benefits before your own full retirement age, you’re locked into a permanently smaller check and you can’t later switch to your own benefit, even if it’s larger. The only way to preserve the ability to switch is to file a restricted application for just the spousal benefit at your own full retirement age (which is 66 for people born from 1943 to 1954 and gradually increases to age 67 for people born in 1955 and later). Then you preserve the right to change to your own benefit when it maxes out at age 70.
With survivor benefits, starting early means a reduced check — your widower benefit at 60 would be 30% smaller than if you waited until your full retirement age — but you can switch to your own benefit later. And if you don’t work, starting survivor benefits at 60 is the better course, said economist Laurence Kotlikoff, coauthor of “Getting What’s Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Social Security.”

“Getting a reduced benefit for 10 years, from 60 to 70, is better than getting an unreduced benefit for fewer years,” Kotlikoff said.
If you work, however, the math becomes less clear. When you start benefits early, your check is reduced $1 for every $2 you earn over a certain limit, which in 2015 is $15,720. That penalty disappears once you hit your full retirement age.

Online calculators can help you determine the best Social Security claiming strategy. AARP and T. Rowe Price are among the sites that provide free calculators, but they don’t factor in survivor benefits. Consider spending about $40 for one of the more sophisticated calculators, such as Kotlikoff’s MaximizeMySocialSecurity.com, that can include this important benefit.

Filed Under: Q&A, Retirement Tagged With: Social Security, spousal benefits, survivor benefits, widow benefits, widower benefits

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