Confused about Social Security widow benefits at 65 vs. letting my own benefits reach FRA - conflicting advice from SSA

The second SSA rep gave you correct information. As a widower, you have the option to claim one benefit now and switch to the other later - this is one of the few remaining "claim now, claim more later" strategies after the 2015 law changes. In your situation, since your own retirement benefit will be higher ($2,800) than your survivor benefit (which would be based on your wife's SSDI amount), the optimal strategy would typically be: 1. Claim survivor benefits at 65 (you'll get a reduced amount, about 91.9% of your wife's benefit) 2. Let your own retirement benefit grow until your FRA (66 and 8 months) 3. Switch to your own retirement benefit at FRA This way you get income for the next 20 months while still maximizing your own retirement benefit, which is the one you'll receive for the rest of your life. The first rep was unfortunately giving you incorrect information, which happens more than it should.

i had the EXACT same problem when my husband died!!! the first person told me i could only take one benefit EVER and the second person said something completely different got so frustrated i almost gave up!!!

My condolences on losing your wife. SSA should really train their people better on these widower benefits. I'm curious - when you went to the office, did you have an appointment or just walk in?

You've gotten the correct advice about being able to take survivor benefits now and switch to your own later. This is specifically allowed under the law. When you go back to SSA, ask for a "restricted application for survivor benefits only." This specific language is important. Also, bring a copy of this SSA publication with the relevant section highlighted: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10084.pdf There's a section that clearly states survivors can choose which benefit to take first. I'd also recommend asking to speak with a Technical Expert or a Claims Specialist, not just the first available representative. These higher-level staff members typically have more training on these complex situations. Also, make sure they understand you are applying ONLY for survivor benefits and explicitly state you want to defer your retirement benefit until FRA. Get this noted in your file.

Can I ask what your work history has been like? Because there's this nasty rule called the Government Pension Offset that might reduce your survivor benefits if you worked for a state or local government that didn't participate in Social Security!!!!! The SSA reps might not even have considered this and IT COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING about which benefit to take when!!!

I spent 2 months trying to get accurate information about my widow benefits last year. Calling the SSA was useless - 2+ hour wait times every time, and then I'd either get disconnected or get someone who clearly didn't understand widow benefits. I finally discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) which got me connected to an SSA agent in under 20 minutes. The service calls SSA for you and connects you when an agent is available. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Using this service, I was able to call back multiple times until I found a knowledgeable agent who helped me file correctly. Honestly worth it after wasting so many hours on hold.

I'm confused why this is even an issue... can't you just look at the two numbers and pick the bigger one? What am I missing here?

Just want to point out that SSDI conversion to survivor benefits is also important here. When a person is receiving SSDI and passes away, the survivor benefit calculation is a bit different than standard survivor benefits. The benefit is based on the SSDI payment amount, but there can be adjustments for the deceased's early claiming. Make sure the SSA rep understands your wife was on SSDI when calculating your survivor amount.

IMPORTANT!!!! Did either of those SSA reps actually RUN THE NUMBERS for your specific situation???? Or were they just telling you general rules? Because without running your actual earnings record through their system, they might be GUESSING about which strategy is better for you!!!