Hi.

My wife passed away at age 56 and she did accrue some Social Security Benefits. I plan on retiring at age 60.5 and will be applying survivor's benefits under her account. This will amount to around $730/month (this is what a SS representative told me when I called them.

I have a choice at retirement of either a lump sum payment or a monthly pension payment (not inflation indexed). I was planning on taking the pension payment but the amount ($3175/month) will be well above the income limit
where they reduce the social security benefits. Then at age 70 applying for my larger pension benefit.

I may also continue to work part time earning approximately $10,000 per year.

My question is if the pension is considered income when social security determines if they should withhold some of the survivor benefit.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

Your pension won't count as income for purposes of Social Security's earnings test. Only earned income, specifically gross wages and/or net earnings from self-employment, counts for earnings test purposes (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html).

However, if your pension is based on your work for a governmental agency and your earnings were exempt from Social Security taxes, then your pension could cause your survivor benefits to be offset due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision. For more information on GPO, refer to the following Social Security publication: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf.

Best, Jerry