Hi,

I am currently 64 years old (born July 1955). My wife passed away in April 2018 at the age of 54. I am not currently working but I will have some earned income this year. I also plan to delay my benefits until I am 70.

I understand that if I start taking my wife's benefit today, I will get a percentage of her social security benefit, but if I wait until I am 66, I will get 100% of her benefit.

My question is if I take her benefit now, and assume I would get 90% of her benefit, will I continue to get that 90% until I start collecting on my own benefit at the age of 70, or will I get 100% of her benefit once I reach 66.

Also, any thoughts about whether I should start taking my widow benefits now or when I reach my FRA?

Thank you,

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

If you start drawing widower's benefits prior to full retirement age (FRA) the reduction for age applied to your benefit rate will be permanent unless some of your benefits are withheld due to your earnings. Regardless of that, though, if your own Social Security retirement benefit rate at age 70 will be higher than your widower's rate, it would be advantageous for you to start drawing your widower's benefits as soon as you can be paid benefits. I'll use an example to illustrate.

Say Rob was born in 1955 and he is potentially eligible for both widower's benefits and retirement benefits on his own account. Rob's deceased wife's primary insurance amount (PIA) was $1200, and since she died prior to her FRA and before filing for her benefits Rob could get her full PIA of $1200 if he files at his FRA or later. If Rob starts drawing now at age 64, his rate will be reduced for age to $1086. Rob's own PIA is $2000 and Rob plans to wait until age 70 to file for his own benefits.

Rob's FRA for widower's benefits is age 66 even though his FRA for retirement benefits would be 66 & 2 months (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/survivors/survivorchartred.html). So, to compare, Rob could either start at drawing at age 64 and be paid $1086 per month for 72 months (6 years), or wait until age 66 and draw $1200 per month for 48 months (4 years). Therefore, if Rob files at 64 he'll receive widower's benefits totaling $78,192 (i.e. 72 x $1086) before switching to his own higher rate at age 70. If Rob waited until age 66 to file he would only receive a total of $57,600 (i.e. 48 x $1200) prior to switching to his own higher rate at age 70. Therefore, it's obvious that Rob would not want to wait to apply for widower's benefits.

You may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to compare your options and confirm your optimal strategy for claiming your benefits.

Best, Jerry