Social Security survivor benefits - Would I get 100% of my spouse's SS at 65 if they die?

As a survivor, you'd get a reduced benefit at age 65. Since you're 2 years before your FRA of 67, you'd receive approximately: - About 87.5% of your deceased husband's benefit (not 100%) - The reduction is roughly 0.396% per month before your FRA Remember though, you'd receive either your own benefit or the survivor benefit, whichever is HIGHER. Also important - the benefit is based on what your husband would have received at HIS full retirement age, not his reduced age-62 benefit. So if your husband took benefits at 62, he was receiving about 75% of his full amount. As his widow, your baseline would be what he would have received at his FRA (100%), then reduced because you're claiming at 65.

This is actually a pretty complicated question because there are a few moving parts. The basic survivor benefit at YOUR full retirement age would be 100% of your deceased spouse's benefit. But since you're not at FRA yet, you'd get a reduced amount - somewhere around 91% I think? BUT - and this is important - if your husband claimed early at 62, the base amount for the survivor benefit might not just be what he was receiving. It gets complicated with something called the "RIB-LIM" rule that the SSA uses. I'd strongly suggest calling the SSA directly to get the exact calculation for your situation before making any decisions. The calculations can get really complicated.

I've been through this exact situation. Here's how it works: 1. If you claim survivor benefits before your FRA (67), they are reduced. At 65, it would be about 91.9% of the full survivor benefit. 2. The full survivor benefit is based on what's called the "higher of" formula: - Either what your husband was actually receiving when he died - OR what he would have received if he had waited until his FRA to claim 3. There's something called the RIB-LIM rule that might apply (Retirement Insurance Benefit Limitation). This can limit your survivor benefit if your husband claimed early. The best strategy might be to claim the reduced survivor benefit now at 65, then switch to your own retirement benefit at 70 if it would be higher by then. This lets your own benefit grow with delayed retirement credits. Hope this helps!

your thinking about this all worng. first u need to know what your OWN benefit woud be cuz if its higher than his then this doesnt even matter. but yea if yours is lower then his you would get a reduced amount since ur under FRA. not 100% for sure. think its like 85% or something like that if ur 65. SSA has a chart somewhere on there website

I struggled with this EXACT question last year after my husband passed. The SSA people gave me different answers every time I called! So frustrating! I eventually reached someone knowledgeable who explained that when I claim survivor benefits before my FRA, it's reduced by a percentage for each month early. But the important thing is that the base amount is usually what your spouse would have received at THEIR full retirement age, not what they were actually getting. I tried for weeks to get through to someone at Social Security who could explain all this clearly. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent without the endless waiting. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Saved me hours of frustration and I finally got answers specific to my situation.

Thank you all for the helpful responses! I'm understanding this better now. So to summarize what I'm hearing: 1. I'd get a reduced percentage (around 91%) of my husband's FRA benefit amount, not just what he's currently receiving 2. This special RIB-LIM rule might affect the calculation 3. I could potentially take survivor benefits now and switch to my own later I think I need to find out what my own benefit would be at various ages to make the best decision. But at least now I understand that I wouldn't just get 100% of his current check if he passes away while I'm 65. I'm going to try to make an appointment at my local SSA office to get more specific numbers for my situation.

One additional point to consider - with survivor benefits, you have flexibility that you don't have with regular retirement benefits. You can actually claim survivor benefits as early as age 60 (reduced, of course), while delaying your own retirement benefit to age 70 to maximize it. This is one of the few remaining "claim now, claim more later" strategies still available after the 2015 law changes. You might want to compare: 1. Taking reduced survivor benefit now, switching to your own at 70 2. Taking your own reduced retirement benefit now, switching to survivor later The optimal choice depends on your own earnings record compared to your husband's. SSA can run these calculations for you.

I'm in the EXACT same boat except I'm 63 and hubby is 69 who took SS at 62. I talked to a financial advisor who said DO NOT claim any SS untl you speak to SSA directly because the rules are SO complicated for survivor benefits. Apparently there are several different calculation methods they use and which one applies depends on your specific situation, birth year, etc. And YES survivor benfits are often higher than what the spouse was actually getting if they claimed early! Crazy system!