Social security benefits — spouse or widow
You stated on WGN radio that a surviving spouse is not entitled to the higher benefits the deceased spouse received for delaying taking benefits until age 70. The surviving spouse would only be entitled to the benefits at age 65 plus the annual increases on that amount. I cannot find this ruling in any of my searches for information on survivor benefits. Please advise! Thank you!
Terry Says
Let this be the FINAL ANSWER regarding benefits for a spouse or widow. It comes directly from the SS website. And there is a big difference, depending on whether a spouse or survivor!
Auxiliary benefits, including both spousal and survivor benefits, are also reduced if they are claimed early, but different rules apply. At the FRA, a spouse is eligible to receive 50 percent of a retired-worker’s benefit. Spousal retirement benefits can start at age 62 and are reduced for each month they are claimed before the FRA by slightly different reduction factors than those described earlier. However, spousal benefits do not increase if the retired worker earns DRCs.
In comparison, the earliest age that survivor retirement benefits can start is age 60.6 Survivor benefits that start at age 60 are always reduced by the maximum reduction of 28.5 percent. (For example, a $1,000 monthly survivor benefit at the FRA would be reduced to $715 if benefits began at age 60.) The retired-worker’s benefit claiming decision affects that of his or her surviving spouse: Survivors can receive no more than the retired worker would have received if that worker started receiving benefits before reaching his or her FRA, and survivors can also inherit DRCs if the retired worker claimed benefits after reaching his or her FRA.
