Social Security survivor benefits confusion - wife claimed early at 65, I delayed until 70

Your wife would receive your actual benefit amount (the age 70 amount) as her survivor benefit, not the FRA amount. When you delay claiming past your FRA, those delayed retirement credits increase not only your benefit but also the potential survivor benefit for your spouse. This is actually one of the best Social Security maximization strategies for married couples where there's a significant benefit difference. Her early claiming at 65 doesn't affect what she'd receive as a widow. She would simply switch from her own reduced retirement benefit to your higher benefit when you pass away. The reduction for claiming her own benefits early doesn't carry over to survivor benefits.

Yes, your wife would receive your age 70 benefit amount as her survivor benefit, which gives her the maximum possible survivor benefit. That's one of the main reasons financial planners often recommend the higher earner delay claiming until 70 if possible. However, there's one important detail to clarify: if your wife claims survivor benefits before her full retirement age, those survivor benefits would be reduced. But since she's already 65, she's close to her FRA, so any reduction would be relatively small. And if she waits until her FRA to claim survivor benefits (should something happen to you), she'd get 100% of your age 70 benefit amount.

That's exactly right. If you were to pass away before she reaches her FRA, she would have a choice: 1. Switch to survivor benefits immediately but take a reduction (the reduction gets smaller the closer she is to her FRA) 2. Wait until her FRA to switch to survivor benefits and get 100% of your age 70 benefit The optimal choice would depend on her age at widowhood and the specific benefit amounts. Sometimes it makes financial sense to take the reduced survivor benefit immediately, other times it's better to wait. One more thing: unlike retirement benefits, survivor benefits can be claimed as early as age 60 (with maximum reduction). The claiming strategy for widows/widowers is quite different from regular retirement claiming strategies.

My brother waited til 70 like you but his wife never worked so different situation i guess... but when he passed last year his wife got his FULL amount what he was getting at 70. The SS people told her she woulda got LESS if hed claimed at full retirement age! Its SO confusing.

Are you SURE about this?!? When my husband died in 2021, Social Security told me I could only get what HE would have gotten at HIS full retirement age, NOT what he was actually getting!!! I've been getting $2,900 instead of the $3,600 he was actually receiving! THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING if I've been getting the wrong amount for 4 YEARS!!! I've called SSA three times and NEVER get the same answer twice. I'm going to call them again tomorrow.

I've tried calling Social Security so many times about a similar issue and can never get through. Been on hold for literally HOURS multiple times and then just get disconnected. Their phone system is a nightmare. Has anyone found a better way to talk to an actual person there??

my aunt gets survivors from my uncles ss and shes getting wat he was gettin when he died. she gets more then she would have on her own ss for sure. they told her she gets the higher amount so looks like the people above already answerd your question

Thank you everyone for all the helpful responses. I think I understand much better now. It sounds like: 1. My wife would get my age 70 benefit amount as her survivor benefit (not my FRA amount) 2. If I pass before she reaches her FRA, she might want to wait until her FRA to claim the survivor benefit to avoid any reduction 3. Her early claiming of her own benefit doesn't penalize her survivor benefit amount This is very reassuring for our planning. I'm going to look into getting official clarification from SSA directly too, using that phone service someone mentioned if needed.

Just came back to say I called SSA today and spent TWO HOURS on the phone. Turns out I WAS getting the wrong amount all this time!!! They're going to adjust my survivor benefit to what my husband was actually receiving at 70, not his FRA amount. And they're supposed to pay me back for the difference going back 4 years. So THANK YOU to everyone in this thread because I would've never questioned this if I hadn't read these comments!