Will claiming SS benefits 5 months before FRA affect survivor benefits from ex-husband?
I'm planning to file for my own Social Security retirement at age 66 and 7 months (5 months before my full retirement age of 67). My ex-husband and I were married for 23 years before divorcing in 2010. He earned significantly more than me during our careers - his benefit would be around $3,200 while mine will only be about $1,750. I understand that when he passes away, I could qualify for survivor benefits as his ex-spouse, which would essentially "top up" my benefit to what he was receiving. My question is: if I start collecting MY benefit 5 months early (before FRA), will that permanently reduce the survivor benefit I'd get after he passes? Or would I still get the full top-up amount based on his record? I've tried calling the SSA office three times but keep getting disconnected. Any insights would be really helpful as I'm trying to make this decision soon.
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Natasha Romanova
The good news is that taking your own retirement benefit early doesn't affect your eventual survivor benefit. They're treated completely separately. If you take your retirement at 5 months before FRA, yes it will be reduced slightly (about 2.8%), but your eventual survivor benefit will still be based on your ex's full amount (or the reduced amount if he took benefits early). The key thing to remember is that survivor benefits and retirement benefits have different rules. When you eventually qualify for the survivor benefit after your ex passes, SSA will compare what you're getting on your own record versus what you'd get as a survivor, and pay you the higher amount.
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Oliver Weber
•Thank you! That's such a relief. I was worried I might be permanently reducing both benefits by filing early. So to be clear, when he passes away, I would stop receiving my reduced benefit of ~$1,750 and instead get his full $3,200 (assuming he claims at or after his FRA)?
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NebulaNinja
I went thru something similiar!!! They told me diff things each time I called. First person said it would effect my survior benefit, second said no. Its so confusing with ex spouses and i was married 22 yrs too. Does your ex know your planning for his death benefits? My ex would be FURIOUS if he knew, but i need to plan for my future to!!!
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Oliver Weber
•No, we haven't spoken in years, and I'm not "planning" for his death - just trying to understand my future options! It's just financial planning. You're right though, getting consistent information is so difficult. Did you ever get a clear answer?
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Javier Gomez
My mom just went through this exact situation! The survivor benefits are totally separate from your own retirement. If you take your retirement 5 months early it'll be reduced a little bit but when your ex passes away (sorry to be blunt) you'll still get the full survivor amount as if you had waited until your full retirement age. Hope that helps!
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Emma Wilson
•Not exactly correct. The survivor benefit would be based on what the ex-husband was receiving when he died. If he claimed early himself, then the survivor benefit would be reduced accordingly. Also, if the ex-husband remarried, that could affect things too. There's also the limit on claiming survivor benefits - you need to be at least 60 unless you're disabled or have dependent children from the marriage. The SSA rules are MUCH more complicated than people realize!
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Malik Thomas
I've helped several clients through this exact scenario. Here's the definitive answer: 1. Your own retirement benefit will be reduced by approximately 2.8% for claiming 5 months early (about $49 less per month) 2. Your survivor benefit from your ex-spouse is completely SEPARATE from your retirement benefit 3. When your ex-spouse passes away, you'll receive the higher of: - Your own benefit (the reduced $1,701) - The survivor benefit (up to 100% of what your ex-spouse received) 4. If your ex-spouse took HIS benefits early, that would reduce the survivor amount One thing to note: you will need to have been divorced for at least 2 years OR your ex-spouse must be collecting benefits for you to claim on his record while he's alive (if you wanted spousal benefits). But this doesn't apply to survivor benefits after he passes.
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Oliver Weber
•Thank you for the detailed explanation! So basically I'm only permanently reducing my own benefit by about $49/month by filing 5 months early. And this won't affect what I'd get as a survivor benefit when he passes. That makes my decision much easier.
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Isabella Oliveira
I tryed to call ss for 3 weeks straight about my widows benefits and NEVER got through!!! kept saying call volume to high try again later!! so frustrating when ur trying to plan ur future!!
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Malik Thomas
•I recommend trying a service called Claimyr if you need to speak with Social Security urgently. They'll call SSA for you and when they get a representative on the line, they connect you directly. Saved my clients hours of frustration. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU or visit claimyr.com. Much better than spending weeks trying to get through on your own.
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Ravi Kapoor
My sister is getting survivior benefits from her ex who passed last year but she didnt file until she was 65. I think you need to be FRA to get the max amount but not sure. Whole system is confussing tbh.
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Emma Wilson
•Your sister likely isn't getting the maximum possible survivor benefit if she filed at 65, which is before FRA for most people now. Survivor benefits reach their maximum at your FRA, which ranges from 66 to 67 depending on birth year. Filing for survivor benefits anytime before your FRA results in a reduction. But again, this is separate from retirement benefits on your own record, which is what the original poster was asking about.
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Oliver Weber
I really appreciate everyone's responses! To summarize what I understand now: Taking my own retirement 5 months early will only reduce MY benefit by about 2.8%, and won't affect any future survivor benefits from my ex-husband's record. When he eventually passes away, I'll get the higher of either my reduced benefit OR his full benefit (assuming he didn't claim early himself). This makes my decision much simpler. I'll probably go ahead with claiming 5 months early since the reduction is fairly small.
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Natasha Romanova
•That's exactly right! And just to give you further peace of mind - even with that 2.8% reduction, if you live past about age 81-82, you'll still come out ahead financially by waiting those 5 extra months. But if you need the money now or have health concerns, taking it 5 months early isn't going to dramatically impact your financial future. Especially knowing your survivor benefit protection remains intact.
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