Social Security survivor benefits question - will husband's early filing reduce my survivor benefits at FRA?

Great question! As a survivor, you would be eligible to receive the higher of: (1) your own retirement benefit, or (2) a survivor benefit based on your husband's record. The good news is that even though your husband claimed early, you can still receive up to 100% of his Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) if you claim survivor benefits at or after your full retirement age. His early claiming decision does NOT permanently reduce what you could receive as a survivor benefit. If you claim survivor benefits before your FRA, then you would receive a reduced amount (approximately 71.5% of his PIA if claimed at age 60). You also have flexibility - you could claim survivor benefits first and then switch to your own retirement benefit at age 70 to maximize your own benefit (if your own benefit at 70 would be higher than the survivor benefit).

my husband took SS at 62 and passed last year. i got less than his full amount cuz he claimed early. maybe the rules changed? i dunno but thats what happened to me

This was really helpful for me too - I'm in a similar boat. My husband is thinking about claiming early but I've been worried about what that means if he passes before me. Glad to know I have options!

The SSA rules for widows are so confusing...I spent hours on their website trying to figure this out. Had a friend who thought she'd get her husband's full amount but ended up with much less. Something about her own benefit offsetting it? Make sure you talk to someone at SSA directly before making any decisions.

I went through this exact situation last year after my husband passed. I was trying to call Social Security for weeks! Always busy signals or 2+ hour holds only to get disconnected. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a Social Security agent in about 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent confirmed that I could get my husband's full PIA amount even though he claimed early, as long as I waited until my full retirement age to claim survivor benefits. They also explained I could take reduced survivor benefits earlier and then switch to my own retirement benefit later if mine would be higher. Having that conversation directly with SSA gave me peace of mind.

One thing to consider in your planning: look at the exact amounts carefully. Since your husband's PIA ($2,650) is only slightly higher than what your own benefit would be at FRA ($2,520), you might actually come out ahead by: 1. Taking survivor benefits at your FRA if he passes 2. THEN switching to your own benefit at age 70 if your benefit with delayed retirement credits would exceed the survivor benefit At age 70, your own benefit would be 124% of your PIA, which works out to about $3,125 - significantly higher than the survivor benefit would be. This strategy is called "restricted application for survivor benefits" and it still works even after the 2015 law changes that eliminated it for most spousal benefits.

This thread has been so useful. I had no idea there were so many options with survivor benefits. Has anyone used a financial advisor who specializes in Social Security planning? Worth it?

Thank you everyone for the helpful information! I feel much better knowing that my husband's early claiming won't permanently reduce what I might receive as a survivor benefit if I wait until my FRA. I'm also intrigued by the strategy of possibly taking survivor benefits at FRA and then switching to my own benefit at 70 if it would be higher with the delayed retirement credits. I've been trying to call SSA to confirm all this for my specific situation but haven't been able to get through. I'll try that Claimyr service someone mentioned. It's such a relief to understand this better - these decisions affect the rest of our lives and it's so hard to find clear information sometimes.