Can I get 6 months retroactive Social Security survivor benefits before my FRA?
I'm turning 66 in August (my FRA is 66 and 10 months) and planning to apply for surviving spouse benefits after my husband passed away last year. Someone at my grief support group mentioned I might be eligible for up to 6 months of retroactive benefits even if I apply before reaching my full retirement age. Is this true? Do survivor benefits have different retroactive rules than retirement benefits? And if I can get these retroactive payments, do I need to specifically request them on my application or does SSA automatically check for this? Feeling confused about the whole process since the SSA website isn't clear on this specific situation.
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Katherine Shultz
Yes, survivor benefits do have different retroactive rules than retirement benefits! You can receive up to 6 months of retroactive benefits when filing for survivor benefits, even before your FRA. However, remember that any months of retroactive benefits paid before your FRA will be at the reduced rate. So if your FRA is 66 and 10 months and you apply at 66, those retroactive payments would be at a reduced rate since they'd be for months before your FRA. You should explicitly mention on your application that you want to receive retroactive benefits - it's not always automatic. The SSA rep should ask you, but sometimes they forget.
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Alberto Souchard
•Thank you so much! So if I understand correctly, if I apply in August when I turn 66, I could potentially get benefits going back to February, but at a reduced rate? Do you know roughly how much of a reduction I'd be looking at? I'm trying to decide if it's better to wait until my actual FRA or take advantage of the retroactive option.
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Marcus Marsh
i got survior benefits last year and yes they gave me 6 months back pay but u have to ASK FOR IT!!! the ssa person never mentioned it and i almost missed out, my neighbor told me about it. defintely say u want the backpay when u apply!!
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Alberto Souchard
•Oh wow, thanks for letting me know! I definitely would have assumed they'd automatically check for retroactive eligibility. I'll make sure to specifically request it!
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Hailey O'Leary
My condolences on losing your husband. I went through the same thing 3 years ago. The 6-month retroactive payment was really helpful for me during that difficult time.
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Alberto Souchard
•Thank you for your kind words. It really has been a difficult adjustment. Did you apply before your FRA like I'm planning to do? I'm still nervous about making the right decision.
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Cedric Chung
There's a lot of confusion around retroactive benefits, so let me clarify. For survivor benefits, SSA can pay up to 6 months retroactively regardless of whether you've reached FRA. This is different from retirement benefits which only allow 6 months retroactive payments if you're past FRA. The reduction for filing early is approximately 0.396% per month before your FRA. So if your FRA is 66 and 10 months, and you file at exactly 66, that's 10 months early, resulting in roughly a 3.96% permanent reduction. The retroactive months would be at this same reduced rate. Importantly, you MUST specifically request retroactive benefits when you apply. It's not automatically granted. And keep in mind that taking reduced survivor benefits doesn't affect retirement benefits on your own record if you choose to switch later.
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Alberto Souchard
•This is incredibly helpful information! So my permanent reduction would be about 4% if I apply at 66 instead of waiting until 66 and 10 months. That doesn't sound too bad considering I'd get 10 months of payments I'd otherwise miss. And it's good to know this doesn't impact my own retirement benefits if I decide to switch later. Thank you!
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Talia Klein
When my sister applied for survivors last year they told her the 6 month lookback was ONLY if you're already at full retirement age. I think some of these comments are WRONG. She applied at 64 and they wouldn't give her any retroactive benefits!!! Call SSA directly and ask!!!
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Cedric Chung
•I understand your sister's experience, but there may have been other factors at play. The official SSA policy is that survivor benefits can indeed have up to 6 months retroactivity regardless of age (unlike retirement benefits which require FRA). However, there are other restrictions that might apply - for example, if she was receiving disability or other benefits that would affect eligibility. But you're absolutely right that calling SSA directly is always the best approach for personalized information.
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Maxwell St. Laurent
Getting through to SSA on the phone can be really frustrating. When I needed to apply for my survivor benefits, I was getting disconnected constantly after waiting on hold for hours. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real person at SSA in under 2 minutes. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU It made a huge difference because I was able to directly ask about the retroactive benefits and specifically request them during my application. The agent explained everything clearly and made sure I got the retroactive payments I was entitled to.
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PaulineW
•I HATE calling Social Security!! Was on hold for 3 HOURS last month and then they hung up on me!! Does this really work? I'm desperate to get my survivor application started but I can't take another day sitting on hold. Has anyone else used this?
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Maxwell St. Laurent
•Yes, it genuinely works. I was skeptical too because I'd already wasted so many hours trying to get through. The service connected me almost immediately. The SSA rep I spoke with was able to answer all my questions about the 6-month lookback for survivor benefits and helped me understand exactly what I needed to do to get those retroactive payments. Saved me from having to take a day off work to visit the office in person.
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PaulineW
Is anyone here worried about the early filing reduction being PERMANENT?? That's what scares me. My husband passed in January and I'm trying to decide whether to take survivors benefits now at 63 with the reduction or wait until my FRA. I didn't even know about this 6 month retroactive option! But if I take it early and get this reduction, am I stuck with the lower amount FOREVER??
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Katherine Shultz
•Yes, the reduction for taking survivor benefits early is permanent. However, there's an important strategy to consider: if you have your own work record, you can take reduced survivor benefits now and then switch to your own retirement benefit later (or vice versa). Many people take reduced survivor benefits early, then switch to their own retirement benefit at 70 when it reaches its maximum value. The reduction only affects the survivor benefit - it doesn't carry over to your own retirement benefit if you switch later.
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Marcus Marsh
wait i'm confused now...if she already turned 66 can she still get the full amount for survivor benefits? i thought FRA for survivors was 66? or is it different for different years you were born?
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Cedric Chung
•Great question! Full Retirement Age (FRA) varies based on your birth year. For people born between 1943-1954, FRA is 66 for both retirement and survivor benefits. For people born 1955 and later, FRA gradually increases. Since the original poster mentioned their FRA is 66 and 10 months, they were likely born in 1957. So even though they're turning 66, they haven't quite reached their full retirement age yet, which is why there would still be a small reduction for claiming survivor benefits at this point.
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Alberto Souchard
I called SSA this morning and spoke with a representative who confirmed most of what you all have said. The 6-month retroactive benefit IS available for survivor benefits even before FRA, but you DO need to specifically request it during application. She calculated that my reduction would be about 4% for claiming 10 months early, which seems worth it to me to get those extra months of benefits. I'm going to proceed with filing in August when I turn 66 and will definitely request the retroactive benefits. Thank you all for your help!
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Hailey O'Leary
•So glad you got the information you needed! It's such a relief when you can finally make a decision with confidence. I still remember how overwhelming it all seemed when I was first navigating survivor benefits.
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