Survivor benefits earnings limit at 61 - will working full-time reduce Social Security survivor benefits?
My brother-in-law (61) just lost his wife of 30 years to cancer last month. He's trying to figure out if he can claim survivor benefits now or if he should wait. He makes about $85,000 a year as a construction manager and doesn't plan to retire for at least 5 more years. Someone at his grief support group mentioned there's an earnings limit that might reduce his survivor benefits if he claims before his full retirement age? Is this true? How much would he lose if he applied now while still working? Would it make more sense for him to just wait until his full retirement age (which I think is 67) to avoid any reductions? He's really struggling financially with the medical bills, so getting something now would help, but not if most of it gets taken away because of his income.
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Aisha Abdullah
Yes, there IS an earnings limit for survivor benefits if you claim before your Full Retirement Age. For 2025, if you earn over $22,780 (the annual limit), Social Security will deduct $1 for every $2 earned above that limit. At $85,000 salary, your brother-in-law would definitely see a significant reduction - possibly having most or all of his monthly survivor benefit withheld. I went through this exact situation when my husband passed. I was working and tried to claim survivor benefits at 60, but because I earned about $65K, they withheld almost all of it! The earnings test hits hard.
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Mateo Rodriguez
•Oh wow, that's what I was afraid of. So he might get nothing at all until he actually retires? That's really disappointing because the medical bills are piling up fast.
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Ethan Wilson
The earnings limit is absolutely real and can significantly impact benefits. At $85,000 income, your brother-in-law would have about $31,110 in benefits withheld annually (($85,000 - $22,780) ÷ 2). However, there's a strategy to consider! If his own retirement benefit at 70 would be higher than his survivor benefit, he could take the reduced survivor benefit now (even with the earnings deduction) and then switch to his own maximized retirement benefit at 70. This is one of the few remaining clever claiming strategies. Also, once he reaches Full Retirement Age, any benefits that were withheld due to the earnings test will increase his monthly benefit amount going forward. So it's not completely lost money.
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Mateo Rodriguez
•This is really helpful - I didn't know about being able to switch between benefits like that. I'll definitely share this with him. Do you know if there's any way to estimate how much his survivor benefit would be? His wife worked as a teacher for about 25 years.
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NeonNova
My dad went thru this!!!! The earnings limit SUCKS when ur working. They took almost everything he would have gotten. Waste of time to even apply until ur done working or at least cut back hours. Sorry about ur brother-in-law's wife :
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Mateo Rodriguez
•Thanks for sharing that - it sounds like applying right now might not be worth the paperwork then? Did your dad end up waiting until he retired completely?
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Yuki Tanaka
Let me clarify something important - while there is an earnings limit, your brother-in-law wouldn't necessarily get "nothing." SSA applies the earnings test MONTHLY in the first year. So if he stops working for any month (earning less than $1,898 in 2025), he could receive his full survivor benefit for that month. This is helpful if he takes any unpaid leave or has seasonal work. Also, has he checked if he's eligible for the lump-sum death payment of $255? It's small but something. Regarding medical bills - definitely have him check if any qualify for the Medicare Surviving Spouse provision, which might help with healthcare costs even before age 65 in some circumstances.
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Mateo Rodriguez
•I didn't realize they looked at it monthly the first year! That's really good to know. He doesn't have any planned time off work, but knowing this might help with planning. And no, I don't think he's applied for that lump sum payment yet - I'll mention it to him. Every bit helps right now.
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Carmen Diaz
Have him try calling the SSA to get a personalized calculation - good luck getting through though! I tried for THREE WEEKS straight and kept getting disconnected or told the wait was over 2 hours. So frustrating when you're trying to understand your benefits!
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Andre Laurent
•I had the same problem trying to reach SSA about my survivor benefits! After days of trying, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real person at Social Security in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - it saved me hours of redial frustration when I was trying to understand my survivor benefit options. Worth it just to get actual answers about the earnings test from an agent instead of guessing.
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Emily Jackson
WAIT!!! Are you sure his wife was on regular Social Security??? If she was a teacher for 25 years, she might have been under a state pension system instead of Social Security! This could mean the Government Pension Offset (GPO) or Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) might apply!!!! This could drastically reduce any survivor benefits regardless of the earnings limit! He needs to confirm this ASAP!!!
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Ethan Wilson
•Good catch. If his wife was receiving a government pension not covered by Social Security, the Government Pension Offset could indeed reduce survivor benefits. However, WEP affects your own benefits based on your non-covered work, not survivor benefits based on someone else's record. If she paid into Social Security during her teaching career (some states do), then GPO/WEP wouldn't apply. This absolutely needs clarification before making any decisions.
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Aisha Abdullah
One more important thing - even if your brother-in-law decides to wait until his Full Retirement Age to avoid the earnings test, he should still FILE HIS INTENT TO CLAIM now. This establishes his eligibility as a surviving spouse and can protect backdated benefits in some cases. The SSA representative can explain this process.
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Mateo Rodriguez
•I hadn't heard of this before. Does filing intent to claim mean he's actually applying, or just telling them he plans to apply later? I'll definitely mention this to him.
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Ethan Wilson
After reviewing the complete situation, here's what your brother-in-law should consider: 1. Given his $85,000 income, most of his survivor benefits would be withheld due to the earnings test until he reaches his Full Retirement Age (FRA). 2. However, filing at 61 locks in the early filing reduction permanently. At 61, he'd receive approximately 71.5% of his wife's full benefit amount for the rest of his life. 3. If he waits until his FRA (likely 67), he'd receive 100% of her benefit with no earnings test. 4. He should get a benefit calculation from SSA for both scenarios - the reduced lifetime amount from claiming early versus waiting for the full amount at FRA. 5. The optimal strategy depends on his own retirement benefit amount compared to the survivor benefit and his life expectancy. At minimum, he should apply for the $255 death benefit immediately.
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Mateo Rodriguez
•Thank you for breaking this down so clearly! I think I have enough information now to help him make an informed decision. It sounds like he might be better off waiting until his FRA to avoid both the earnings test and the permanent reduction, but he'll need to weigh that against his immediate financial needs.
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