I am receiving full Social Security benefits. My spouse will be receiving, when she retires, within the next 5 months, proceeds from a 401(a) program. Her employer a municipality, elected the 401 (a) in lieu of participating in SS. Both her and employer contribute. She does not have enough credits to receive a Social security retirement on her own.

When I pass, and I have terminal cancer, she is 64, 65 in May, and plans to retire this year, will she be eligible for Survivors benefits from SS if she is also receiving payments from her 401(a), if so then will they be reduced and how can I compute the reduction?

ThANK YOU

Hi,

I'm very sorry to hear about your illness.

It sounds like your wife's spousal and/or widow's benefits would likely be subject to offset if she receives distributions from her 401(a) program, due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf).

The amount that monthly spousal and widow's benefits are offset is equal to 2/3rds of the monthly rate of the government pension. If your wife doesn't receive her 401(a) distributions at a set monthly rate, then the total value of her plan would likely be prorated into a monthly rate based on her life expectancy. Obviously that computation is quite complex, but here is the reference from Social Security's operations manual: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0202608400.

Our maximization software may be able to help you determine how much if any Social Security benefits that your wife could be eligible for from your record. The software is programmed to handle GPO considerations.

Best, Jerry