Starting survivor benefits at FRA (67) while working full-time - can I avoid Social Security earnings limit in 2025?

You're asking a really good question about a nuanced situation. Here's how it works: The earnings test does apply in the months BEFORE you reach your Full Retirement Age, even in the year you reach FRA. However, it's a higher limit and more favorable calculation in your FRA year. For 2025 (assuming similar increases to 2024), in the months before your FRA, you'll likely be subject to a limit of around $62,000 for the whole year. But - and this is important - they only count earnings BEFORE the month you reach FRA. So if you turn 67 in April, they only count your earnings from January through March toward that limit. With a $72,000 salary, that means about $18,000 would count toward the limit for those three months (assuming equal monthly income), which would be well under the special higher limit for your FRA year. Once you reach your FRA in April, there's no earnings limit at all, regardless of how much you make.

I went thru almost IDENTICAL situation last year!!! The SSA rep actually gave me WRONG info at first and told me I couldn't do what you're planning. I had to talk to a supervisor to get it straightened out. But yes, you absolutely CAN take survivor benefits at your FRA and let your own continue to grow! That's the smart move especially if your own benefit will be higher at age 70. The only thing to watch is that earnings test before your exact FRA month like the other poster mentioned. Make sure you SPECIFY when applying that you only want the survivor benefit and are deferring your retirement!!! They tried to automatically give me both which would have messed up my whole strategy!!

Just to add some clarity on the earnings limit for 2025 (based on projections from 2024 figures): 1. For people reaching FRA during 2025, the earnings limit will likely be around $62,160 for the months BEFORE reaching FRA. ($1 deduction for every $3 you earn above this limit) 2. For people under FRA for the entire year, the limit will be around $23,400. ($1 deduction for every $2 above this limit) 3. Once you reach your Full Retirement Age, there is NO earnings limit whatsoever. In your case, they would only count earnings from January through March, and it would need to exceed about 1/4 of that $62,160 limit (roughly $15,540) before any reduction would apply. With your $72,000 salary, your earnings for those three months would be approximately $18,000, which is only about $2,460 over that quarterly amount. This would reduce your benefits by about $820 total ($1 for every $3 over), spread across those few months. Not a huge impact given the advantage of claiming survivors while growing your own benefit.

my sister tried doing this but social security automatically gave her BOTH benefits. they said you cant pick and choose anymore after some rule changed. anybody know about this??

Have you tried calling SSA directly about this? It took me NINE ATTEMPTS over THREE DAYS to get through to someone last month for my benefits question. Every time I called, I got the "we're experiencing high call volume" message and it hung up on me. So frustrating!!! I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that a friend recommended. They somehow get you through the Social Security phone system and connect you with an actual agent. Saved me hours of redial hell. There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU that shows how it works. When I finally got through, I had to be REALLY specific about wanting the survivor benefits only. The agent kept trying to process both benefits until I insisted multiple times. Get the agent's name and employee ID too! Makes a difference if you need to reference the conversation later.

Just be super careful what boxes you check on the application!!! My mom wanted to do exactly what your planning and they still messed it up and gave her both benefits. Took 3 months to fix and she lost out on future increases to her own benefit.

this info is soooo confusing, i've read it three times and still dont get whether OP can work or not lol. so is there a dollar limit or not?? 🤷‍♀️

Make sure to double check the FRA for survivor benefits! Some people don't realize survivor FRA can be different from retirement FRA depending on your birth year. For most people born 1943-1954, FRA for survivors is 66, not 67. Just want to make sure you have the right age!

One more thing to consider - when you apply, do it as a "filing strategy" rather than just applying for benefits. Make it very clear you're: 1) Filing ONLY for survivor benefits at your FRA 2) Explicitly deferring your retirement benefits to grow delayed retirement credits 3) Planning to switch to your own higher benefit at age 70 I recommend applying in person at your local office if possible for this type of situation. Over the phone or online applications sometimes don't handle these strategic filings correctly. Bring a printed statement explaining your intention if needed.