Confused about early SS retirement at 63 affecting future survivor benefits - will I get reduced amount?

This is a really good question that confuses a lot of people. When you take survivor benefits actually matters more than when you take your own retirement. If your husband passes away, you can switch to survivor benefits at any point, but the amount you'd receive depends on WHEN you switch. If you take survivor benefits before your FRA (67), they'll be reduced. If you wait until your FRA, you'd get 100% of what your husband was receiving. The fact that you took your own benefits early at 63 doesn't permanently reduce your survivor benefits. They're calculated separately. The key is when you apply for the survivor benefits, not when you applied for your own retirement.

Yes, you've got it exactly right! The timing of when you apply for survivor benefits is what determines if they're reduced or not. One more thing to consider - if your husband's benefit amount is significantly higher than your own, you might want to talk with SSA about the best strategy. Sometimes it makes sense to take your own reduced retirement benefit early, then switch to the higher survivor benefit at your FRA to maximize what you'll receive over your lifetime.

I was in almost EXACTLY the same boat last year! My husband is 73 (I'm 64) and I was terrified about messing up my potential survivor benefits by taking my SS early. I waited and waited on hold with SSA for HOURS trying to get someone to explain it clearly. Kept getting disconnected or told different things by different people. SO FRUSTRATING!!!! Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual SSA agent in under 10 minutes! They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent confirmed what the previous comment said - survivor benefits are based on WHEN YOU TAKE THEM, not when you took your own retirement. Totally different calculations. What a relief!

quick question - does anyone know if this is still true if you were on SSDI before switching to retirement? my situation is different but related

The SSA system is deliberately complicated to prevent people from getting the maximum benefit they deserve. I applied for survivor benefits when my husband passed and they gave me LESS than what he was getting even though I waited until my FRA!!! When I questioned it, they claimed some obscure rule about his benefits being reduced due to government pension offset or something. Don't trust what anyone tells you without getting it IN WRITING from SSA directly.

I see lots of good advice here, but there's one important detail I want to clarify. It's true that when you take survivor benefits matters most, but there's also a rule that if you take your own retirement benefits early AND your spouse has already passed away, you can't earn delayed retirement credits on survivor benefits. In your case, since your husband is still living, this doesn't apply to you. But for others reading who might be widowed already - if you take your own retirement early, it might affect your strategy for survivor benefits. My advice? Get a scheduled appointment with SSA to review your specific situation before making any decisions. They can run calculations based on your exact birthdate, your husband's benefit amount, and other factors.

my mother in law got widow benefits and she says they look at what age ur husband was when he started getting SS. if he took it early they base widow benefits on that reduced amount. but if he waited til 70 like my father in law did she gets the bigger amount he was getting when he died. did ur husband take SS at his full retirement age or early or late?

Just to wrap things up for you: 1. You can take your own retirement at 63 (reduced amount) 2. If your husband passes away, you can switch to survivor benefits 3. Those survivor benefits would be based on what your husband was receiving (which is slightly reduced since he filed at 64.5) 4. BUT, your survivor benefit would also be reduced if you take it before your FRA (67) 5. If you wait until your FRA to take survivor benefits, you'd get 100% of what your husband was receiving The key is to look at both benefits as separate decisions. The optimal strategy usually involves taking the smaller benefit first and the larger one later. In most cases, waiting until FRA for survivor benefits makes financial sense if you can afford to do so.