Social Security survivor benefits - what percentage of husband's SS will I receive if I took my benefits at 62?

As a widow, you'd be eligible to receive up to 100% of your husband's benefit amount if you wait until your Full Retirement Age to claim survivor benefits. However, since you claimed your own benefits early at 62, you would still have options. You can either keep your own reduced benefit or switch to survivor benefits - whichever is higher. Your early filing of your own benefits doesn't penalize your survivor benefits as long as you're at FRA when you claim them.

Thank you for explaining! So if I understand correctly, even though I took my own benefits early, I could still potentially get his full $2,800 if I wait until my FRA to claim survivor benefits? That's a relief to know.

my mom faced this same issue last yr when dad died... she was gettin her own SS check but switched to his after he passed because it was bigger. SSA office said it was the 'survivors benefit' and its was 100% of what he got. they didnt care that she took hers at 63.

I'm sorry about your dad. Thank you for sharing your mom's experience - that's helpful to know how it worked in a real situation. I was worried my early filing might permanently reduce everything.

thx. yeah mom said they asked her if she wanted to keep her own or switch to dad's. took like 2 secs to decide lol

This is an important planning question. Let me clarify a few points:1. If your husband passes away, you can receive up to 100% of his benefit amount as a widow.2. Taking your own benefits at 62 doesn't affect your survivor benefit amount.3. The age at which you claim survivor benefits does matter. If you claim survivor benefits before your Full Retirement Age, they'll be reduced (approximately 71.5% at age 60 to 100% at FRA).4. You would have the option to switch from your retirement benefit to survivor benefits or vice versa, whichever gives you the higher amount.One strategic approach: If your husband passes away before you reach FRA, you might consider taking the reduced survivor benefit early, then switching to your own benefit at 70 if it would be larger with delayed retirement credits. Or take your reduced retirement benefit now and switch to full survivor benefits at your FRA.

Thank you for such a detailed explanation! I didn't realize I could potentially switch between different benefits at different times. I think I need to sit down and really map out these different scenarios. It sounds like I have more options than I realized.

You're welcome! Yes, the ability to switch between benefit types is a powerful planning tool that many people don't realize exists. The SSA doesn't always volunteer this information, so it's good you're researching in advance.

I think you should also know that when one spouse dies, you lose one of the Social Security checks. So while you might get his higher amount, your household will go from receiving two checks to just one. A lot of people don't realize their household income will drop significantly.

That's a really important point I hadn't considered. So our household income would essentially drop from $4,225/month ($2,800 + $1,425) down to just $2,800. That's a big difference for monthly expenses.

When my wife died, I had SUCH a hard time getting through to Social Security to report her death and apply for the survivor benefits!!! Kept getting busy signals or disconnected after waiting for hours!!! I was so frustrated on top of grieving. FINALLY my daughter told me about a service called Claimyr that got me through to a real agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video explaining how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU and their site is claimyr.com. Saved me days of frustration trying to get through on my own. Just wanted to share in case anyone needs to reach SSA quickly.

So sorry about your wife. I'll check out that video - I've spent hours trying to get simple questions answered by SSA. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you. Yes, it's worth knowing about before you need it. The last thing you want when dealing with a loss is to fight with phone systems for days.

DONT TRUST THE PHONE REPS!!! When my husband died in 2022, I called SS and the lady told me I couldn't get his benefits because I was already getting my own!!! I believed her and didn't find out for 8 MONTHS that she was WRONG!!! Go to the OFFICE in person or make sure you talk to different agents to verify any information!!! I lost out on $12,000 because of this misinformation and they would only backpay me for 6 months!!!

Oh my goodness, that's terrible! Thanks for the warning. I'll definitely make sure to verify information from multiple sources. Did you ever manage to get the full backpay?

NOPE! They said 6 months is the maximum for survivor benefits backpay even though it was THEIR MISTAKE! I even filed an appeal and they denied it. The whole system is set up to hope you don't know your rights!

I want to add something important: there's a one-time death benefit payment of $255 that a surviving spouse can receive. It's not much, but it's something many people don't know to claim. Also, you should report the death to Social Security as soon as possible, as benefits are not prorated - if someone passes mid-month, that entire month's payment might need to be returned.

Thank you for mentioning that. $255 does seem quite small for a death benefit, but good to know about it. And I had no idea about potentially having to return a month's payment - that's really important to be aware of.

My friend said your survivor benefit depends on whether youre taking care of kids too. Like if you have a child under 16 you get a different amount? Does anyone know if thats true?

That's referring to something different. If you're caring for the deceased worker's child who is under 16 (or disabled), you can receive what's called a

Thank you all for the helpful responses! I've learned so much more than I expected. Just to make sure I understand correctly: 1) I can get up to 100% of my husband's benefit as a survivor if I claim at my FRA, 2) My early claiming of my own benefit doesn't reduce my survivor benefit, 3) I should be aware of the household income reduction from losing one check, and 4) I need to be careful about getting accurate information from SSA. This gives me a much better picture for our financial planning.

That's exactly right. You've got all the key points. Just remember that you have flexibility - you can switch between your own retirement benefit and the survivor benefit depending on which is higher at different points in time. That's a planning opportunity many people miss.