My wife and I have been married over ten years. When I first started taking reduced benefits at 62 I was getting around $$900 a month. Now I get $1300 a month with cola increase. If Idie what would my wife get as survivor benefits.

Hi,

The answer to your question depends on a number of variables, among which are whether or not your wife receives benefits on her own record and her age at the time she becomes entitled to survivor benefits on your record. If you started drawing your benefits right at age 62, then your wife's unreduced widow's rate would likely be based on a rate of 82.5% of your primary insurance amount (PIA). That would likely be a bit higher than the amount you currently receive, which is probably between 75% & 80% of your PIA depending on your year of birth.

However, if your wife receives Social Security benefits on her own record she could only be paid the higher of that amount or her widow's rate, not both. And, her widow's rate would be reduced for age if she starts drawing widow's benefits prior to her full retirement age. Also, if your wife happens to receive a government pension based on her work that was exempt from Social Security taxes then any widow's benefits for which she qualifies would likely be offset by 2/3rds of the amount of her government pension (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/gpo.html).

Best, Jerry