Can I collect husband's SSDI survivor benefits at 60 then switch to mine at FRA? Earnings limit questions
My brother (62) is currently receiving SSDI due to a progressive medical condition that his doctors give about 2-3 years. I'm trying to help my sister-in-law (59) understand her options for the future. She wants to know if she can claim survivor benefits when she turns 60 and then switch to her own retirement benefits when she reaches her full retirement age (67). She's also concerned about working while collecting survivor benefits since she's the office manager at a dental practice making about $52,000/year. Are there earnings limits that would reduce her survivor benefit? She's heard conflicting information from friends about whether she can collect anything before her full retirement age if she's still working. Any insight would be appreciated.
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Connor Murphy
Yes, she can collect survivor benefits as early as age 60 and then switch to her own benefits at her Full Retirement Age if her own benefit would be higher. This is one of the few remaining claiming strategies after the 2015 rule changes. However, there are earnings limits for survivor benefits if she's working and under her FRA. For 2025, she can earn up to approximately $21,870 without reduction (exact 2025 limit not yet announced). After that, $1 in benefits is withheld for every $2 earned above the limit. In the year she reaches FRA, the limit is higher - roughly $58,000 with $1 withheld for every $3 earned above that amount. Once she reaches her FRA, there's no earnings limit at all. She should carefully calculate if taking survivor benefits early makes sense given her income.
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QuantumQuest
•Thank you! She'll be disappointed about the earnings limits since she makes well over that amount. If she waits until her FRA to claim survivor benefits, would she still be able to switch to her own benefits later or would she have to make that choice then?
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Yara Haddad
My dad passed 2 years ago and my mom went through this exact thing!!! She started the survivor benefits at 60 but REGRETS it now because she was still working part time at the hospital and they kept taking most of it back because of the earnings test! She only got like $240 some months when she was suppose to get $1894. SO FRUSTRATING!
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Keisha Robinson
•YES!!!! Social security aint gonna tell you this till AFTER they take it back. My sister lost almost 8 months of benefits because nobody told her about earning limits. She was working at Amazon warehouse.
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Paolo Conti
If your sister-in-law continues working at that salary, she might want to consider waiting until her FRA to claim survivor benefits. At that point, there's no earnings limit to worry about. Then she still has the option to switch to her own retirement benefit at age 70 if it would be higher (with delayed retirement credits). Another important point - the survivor benefit amount depends on when your brother claimed his SSDI and his benefit amount. If he was receiving his full benefit amount, she would get 100% of his benefit at her FRA (but reduced if she claims early at 60). She should create a my Social Security account at ssa.gov to see her own benefit estimates, then compare with what his survivor benefit would be.
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QuantumQuest
•That's really helpful. He's been on SSDI for about 5 years now. I believe he gets around $2,850/month. She's never created an online account - I'll help her set that up so we can compare numbers.
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Amina Sow
I went through something similar after my husband passed. The wait times on the SSA phone lines were INSANE when I tried to get specific numbers for my situation. I spent literally 4 days trying to reach someone. Finally found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real person at SSA in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours or getting disconnected. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Saved my sanity during an already difficult time. Definitely have her gather all your brother's information (SSN, benefit amount) plus her own work history before calling. The SSA agent was able to calculate exactly what my survivor benefit would be and how the earnings test would affect it in my specific situation.
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QuantumQuest
•Thank you for this recommendation. We've been dreading the phone calls to SSA. I'll check out that service - anything to avoid the endless hold times would be worth it.
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GalaxyGazer
wait cant she just get the lump sum death payment of $255 when he passes? thats all I got when my wife died. SS is so confusing!!
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Connor Murphy
•The $255 death benefit is separate from monthly survivor benefits. As a widow, she's entitled to survivor benefits based on his earnings record. The death payment is just a one-time payment, while survivor benefits are monthly.
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Oliver Wagner
You should DEFINITELY talk to a PROFESSIONAL!!!!!! Not just people on the internet! So many rules with Social Security and if you make ONE mistake it could cost THOUSANDS!!!! SSA workers don't always give correct info either. My friend lost out on benefits because somebody at SSA gave her wrong info about the 9 month rule for survivor benefits!!!!
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Paolo Conti
•This is actually good advice. While the general rules are simple, individual situations can get complex. The Social Security claiming decision should ideally involve consulting with a financial advisor who specializes in Social Security planning, especially when juggling survivor benefits, personal retirement benefits, and earnings limits.
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Keisha Robinson
sry bout your brother man. my wife got my bros benefits when he died from cancer. she said the local office was way better than calling. took appointment but they explained everything real good. she got like 80% of his benefit at 60 i think.
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QuantumQuest
•I appreciate that. We'll probably try the local office once we have a better idea of her options. Good to hear they were helpful for your situation.
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Connor Murphy
One more important consideration - if your sister-in-law's own Social Security benefit will eventually be higher than her survivor benefit, she might want to consider a different strategy. She could take her OWN benefit early at 62 (reduced for early filing) and then switch to the survivor benefit at her FRA (getting 100% of his benefit). This would be the opposite approach and works better in some cases, particularly if her own benefit at 62 is small but still provides some income until FRA. The earnings test would still apply until her FRA though. I recommend she schedule an appointment with SSA about 3-4 months before she turns 60 to discuss all options with her specific numbers.
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QuantumQuest
•That's an interesting alternative I hadn't considered. She's worked consistently but never had a high income, so her benefit is probably lower than his. I'll add this to our list of questions when we speak with SSA. Thank you for all the insights.
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