I am financial advisor and have a 62 year old client who is about to marry a woman approximately 40 years younger than him. I have researched this thoroughly and am having difficultly confirming the right answer. If they stay married for at least 10 years, my understanding is that her benefit, assuming she does not have her own work record, will be based on his COLA increased benefit amount at the time he dies. My question is, if he dies when she is 32 years old, will her survivor benefit grow with COLA's starting at age 32 or will COLA for her be suspended until she is first eligible to begin receiving benefits? Thank you.

Hi. All Social Security cost of living (COLA) increases that occur after a person dies or turns age 62 are added to their primary insurance amount (PIA). Therefore, the PIA of worker you refer to would be increased by all future Social Security COLAs, including those that occur after his death. Whenever a surviving spouse becomes eligible for benefits on the worker's record, her survivor benefit rate would be calculated based on the worker's updated PIA at the time the survivor benefits are calculated.

I should mention that the amount of a widow's benefit can be affected by the age at which the deceased worker started drawing their benefits. If a worker starts drawing their Social Security retirement benefit prior to full retirement age (FRA), the widow's rate is limited to no more than the higher of a) 82.5% of the worker's PIA, or b) the worker's reduced monthly benefit amount, inclusive of COLAs that occur after the worker's death. But, if a worker waits until age 70 to start collecting their benefits, their widow could be paid up to 100% of their age 70 rate, inclusive of posthumous COLAs.

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Best, Jerry