Can I get Social Security survivor benefits at FRA if wife dies before I claim my own benefits?

Yes, you could receive survivor benefits even if you haven't claimed your own retirement benefits yet. As a surviving spouse who has reached FRA, you'd be entitled to 100% of what your wife was receiving (or would have received if she hadn't claimed yet). The interesting part is that you could claim survivor benefits while still delaying your own retirement benefits (allowing them to grow until age 70). This is one of the few remaining \

Thank you for explaining that! So I could potentially collect survivor benefits based on her record while still letting my own retirement benefits increase until 70? That's really helpful to know for our planning.

When my husben died i tried to get both his SS and mine and they told me NO WAY you only get the bigger one not both!!!!! So don't count on getting anything extra, they ALWAYS give you whichever is bigger. The SSA takes away more than they give!!

You're partially correct, but there's an important distinction here. You can't receive FULL survivor benefits AND your own retirement benefits simultaneously - you'll get the higher of the two amounts. However, what the original poster is asking about is a sequencing strategy. Since he hasn't claimed his own benefits yet, he could claim survivor benefits first, then switch to his own (presumably higher) retirement benefit later. This is completely legitimate under SSA rules.

Well they never explained that to ME when I went in after my husband died!!! They just said \

My condolences on thinking about these difficult scenarios. Reminds me of when my sister had to deal with all this after her husband passed suddenly. So stressful.

I was in a similar situation last year trying to figure out survivor options. Spent WEEKS trying to get someone at SSA on the phone. After hours on hold and getting disconnected repeatedly, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual SS agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Saved me so much frustration, especially since this survivor benefit strategy question is complex and the online info doesn't cover every scenario. The agent I spoke with confirmed I could take survivor benefits at FRA while deferring my own retirement benefit.

Does that service really work? Ive called SS like 20 times and either wait 2+ hours or get disconnected!!

It worked surprisingly well for me. I had tried calling for days before using it. The rep I spoke with was knowledgeable about the survivor benefit rules and confirmed what others are saying here - you can claim survivor benefits while delaying your own retirement benefits.

just wanted to add my 2 cents - my dad did this exact thing after mom died. he took her benefits for a couple years then switched to his own when he turned 70. SSA told him he could do this because he hadn't taken his own benefits yet. worked fine for him.

Thanks for sharing your dad's real-world experience with this strategy. That's exactly the kind of scenario I'm trying to understand and plan for. Good to know it worked smoothly in practice.

To give you the full technical explanation: Since you've reached FRA, you have what's called

Wait so survivor benefits and spousal benefits have DIFFERENT rules?? This is so confusing! Why does the government make this so complicated???

Yes, survivor benefits and spousal benefits follow different rules. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 eliminated many claiming strategies for spousal benefits, but intentionally left the survivor benefit flexibility intact. The reasoning is that death of a spouse is not something people plan for strategically, so there was no need to restrict these options. It's admittedly complex, but meeting with an SSA representative can help clarify your specific situation.

I think everyone here is right about being able to take survivor benefits now and switch to your own later. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses. This clarifies a lot for our retirement planning. I'll definitely look into speaking with SSA directly about our specific situation, but it's good to know I have options if the unfortunate happens. The strategy of taking survivor benefits while letting my own continue to grow until 70 makes a lot of sense financially.