Taking Social Security survivor benefits at 66 vs FRA (66+10mo) - permanent reduction question

Yes, if you take survivor benefits before your FRA (66+10 months), they will be permanently reduced. The reduction is approximately 4.75% per year early, so taking them 10 months early would mean roughly a 4% permanent reduction. Since you're still working and earning well above the earnings limit ($22,320 in 2025), Social Security would withhold $1 for every $2 you earn above that limit anyway. This means you'd likely have most or all of your survivor benefits withheld until you reach FRA. In your situation, waiting until your FRA in December 2025 makes more sense because: 1. You'll get the full survivor benefit amount (no reduction) 2. The earnings limit no longer applies at FRA 3. You mentioned you don't need the money right now Then your strategy to switch to your own benefit at 70 is solid, as it will have grown by 8% per year from your FRA.

wait till FRA!!! i took mine 8 months early and regret it every month when i see that smaller check. once you take it reduced it STAYS reduced forever. and with your income they'll just withhold most of it anyway

I was in almost the exact same situation two years ago. My FRA was 66+8 months, and I was still working making about $70K. I waited until my full FRA to collect survivor benefits and I'm so glad I did. Besides avoiding the permanent reduction, I also avoided the hassle of having benefits withheld due to the earnings test and then having to deal with SSA recalculating and adjusting things later. Trust me, ANYTHING that reduces your interactions with SSA bureaucracy is a blessing! And your plan to switch to your own benefit at 70 is exactly what I'm doing. My financial advisor confirmed this is typically the best approach for maximizing lifetime benefits in our situation.

Have you tried calling SSA to get the exact dollar figures for both scenarios? That would help you make a more informed decision. I know their wait times can be ridiculous - I spent 3 hours on hold last month and got disconnected twice before that. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU showing how it works. It saved me so much frustration, and the agent was able to run calculations for different filing scenarios so I could see exactly how much I'd get at different ages. In your case, knowing the exact dollar difference between filing at 66 versus 66+10 months might make the decision clearer, especially when considering the earnings test impact.

Everyone seems to be focusing on the reduction, but let's actually calculate this. If your survivor benefit would be $2,500/month at FRA, taking it 10 months early would mean approximately a 4.2% reduction, or about $105/month less. That's $1,260 less per year, for life. However, by waiting those 10 months, you're foregoing 10 months of payments entirely. That's $23,950 in benefits ($2,395/month × 10 months) you never receive. It would take about 19 years of receiving that extra $105/month to make up for the 10 months of missed payments. THAT SAID - with your earnings well above the limit, most of this is moot since you'd lose most of it to the earnings test anyway until you reach FRA. The earnings test in 2025 withholds $1 for every $2 earned above $22,320. With $65K income, that's $42,680 above the limit, meaning they'd withhold $21,340 in benefits - which would be most or all of your annual survivor benefit anyway. So practically speaking, waiting until FRA makes the most sense in your specific situation.

Omg the survivor rules are so confusing!! I thought survivor benefits don't have the same rules as retirement?? My friend is getting survivor benefits and still working full time and she's only 60?? I'm so confused by all this

Sorry to go off-topic a bit, but I just wanted to add that when you DO eventually apply, make sure you specify that you want to RESTRICT your application to survivor benefits only. Don't let them talk you into filing for your own retirement at the same time. I've heard horror stories of people accidentally filing for both when they only meant to file for one, and then being stuck with a permanently reduced retirement benefit. And when you approach 70, you'll need to proactively file to switch to your retirement benefit - it won't happen automatically!

wait i'm confused about something - if you're making 65k why do you even care about survivor benefits? thats way more than most of us get from ss and work combined. just curious