Can I get higher Social Security benefits by marrying at 84? Questions about spousal and survivor benefits after taking early retirement

To qualify for spousal benefits, you need to be married for at least 1 year before applying. For survivor benefits, you need to be married for at least 9 months before your spouse passes away (with some exceptions). Since you already claimed your own benefits at 62, you would only receive the difference between your current benefit and up to 50% of your new spouse's full retirement age benefit (for spousal) or up to 100% of what they were receiving (for survivor benefits). One important thing to know - switching to spousal benefits after already claiming your own reduced benefits doesn't reset anything. Your reduction for claiming early is permanent, and it will affect how spousal benefits are calculated too.

One thing I'm confused about - if you've already been taking benefits since 62, wouldn't that be for like 22 years now? So you started claiming around 2003? The benefit amounts would have been different back then. Have you been getting COLAs (cost of living adjustments) every year? $1000 seems really low for someone who's been on benefits that long, unless you had very low lifetime earnings.

The previous information is correct, but let me clarify a few points: 1. For spousal benefits: Marriage requirement is at least 12 months 2. For survivor benefits: Marriage requirement is at least 9 months (with some exceptions for accidental death) Since you're already receiving your own benefits that were reduced for early claiming, any spousal benefits would be reduced accordingly. The calculation gets complicated, but essentially: You would receive your own reduced benefit PLUS the difference between that amount and what your spousal benefit would be (which is up to 50% of your spouse's PIA, also reduced if you claimed early). For survivor benefits, you could receive up to 100% of what your spouse was receiving, but again, there may be reductions based on when you claimed your own benefits. Consult directly with SSA before making any decisions, as your specific circumstances may affect the calculations.

Jst want to say careful with marriage at ANY age!!! My sister married at 70 thinking same thing bout SS benefits and ended up with nursing home bills from her husband that wiped out EVERYTHING she had. Medicaid lookback is 5 YEARS!!!! Think about ALL consequnces not just SS!!!

I've been trying to reach Social Security for weeks to ask similar questions about survivor benefits, but the wait times are insane! Finally had success using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent I spoke with confirmed what others have said - you need 9 months of marriage for survivor benefits in most cases. But there are exceptions if death is accidental. For spousal benefits, it's definitely a 1-year marriage requirement. The agent also mentioned that at your age, if you do get married, you should inform SSA right away rather than waiting.

im not sure anybodys mentioned this yet but if you were married before for at least 10 years you might be able to claim on that ex-spouse instead? might be easier than getting married again at 84! no judgment tho, you do you!

Another important consideration: If either of your potential spouses is receiving any needs-based benefits like SSI or Medicaid, marriage could affect those benefits since household income is considered. Also, be aware that marriage might impact other financial arrangements like pensions with survivor benefits that may already name other beneficiaries. At 84, I would strongly recommend making an appointment with SSA to discuss your specific situation rather than making decisions based solely on general forum advice. Your earnings record, exact benefit amount, and other factors will determine the exact financial impact.

MY NEIGHBOR JUST DID THIS!!!! She married her friend and got his benefits when he died but she had to fight with SSA for MONTHS because they said it was a "marriage of convenience" or something like that. They investigated her!!! Be careful what you say to them about why you're getting married!!