Will delaying my Social Security affect survivor benefits if husband takes SS at 62?

My understanding is that if your husband claims at 62, he'll lock in a permanently reduced benefit - about 30% less than his full retirement age amount. If he passes away, your survivor benefit would be based on what he was actually receiving. So him claiming early DOES reduce your potential survivor benefit. BUT - there's an exception if you're at your full retirement age when you claim survivor benefits. In that case, you'd get 100% of his FULL retirement age benefit, not his reduced benefit. This is why it's often advised for the higher-earning spouse to delay claiming as long as possible. Since your own benefit is higher, you'd probably want to take your own retirement benefit instead of survivor benefits anyway. You should check out the SSA.gov website which explains this better than I can.

Actually, there's some confusion here that needs clearing up. When it comes to survivor benefits, what matters is: 1. The age at which your husband claims affects how much HE receives and establishes the BASE for your survivor benefit 2. The age at which YOU claim survivor benefits determines whether you get a reduction If your husband claims at 62, he'll receive about 70% of his FRA benefit. If he passes away, and you claim survivor benefits at your FRA or later, you would receive what he was receiving when he died, including any cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) that had been applied since he started receiving benefits. BUT - and this is important - there's a special rule: If your husband claims early and passes away, as a widow at FRA you're entitled to the HIGHER of: - What he was actually receiving when he died - 82.5% of his full retirement age benefit amount This is sometimes called the "widow(er)'s limit." So him claiming early doesn't hurt you quite as much as it might seem. As for your own claiming strategy, since your benefit is higher than his, you would ultimately get the higher of your own benefit or the survivor benefit.

So sorry about planning for this sad stuff. My hubby died last year and I had NO IDEA how any of this worked. If your social security is more than his will be then youll just keep getting your own benefit if he passes. That's what they told me at the SS office when I went in. But if his benefit would be larger than yours, then yes when he dies you would get HIS amount instead of yours. But the person above is right that if he takes it early at 62 then his benefit will be much lower which means the survivor amount would be lower too.

Wait I'm getting confused with all these percentages and rules... So basically if the husband takes SS at 62 and gets a reduced amount, and then passes away, the wife would get that same reduced amount as survivor benefits? That seems unfair!

Let me try to simplify this based on my experience helping my mom after dad passed: 1. Your husband claiming at 62 WILL permanently reduce his own benefit by about 30% 2. When survivor benefits come into play, you'll get the HIGHER of: - Your own retirement benefit - What your husband was receiving (including any COLA increases) - 82.5% of your husband's FRA benefit (if he claimed early) Since your own benefit is higher than 50% of his, and you're planning to wait until FRA or later, it's VERY likely your own benefit will be higher than any survivor benefit from his record. The best strategy financially would be for BOTH of you to delay as long as possible, especially the higher earner. But I understand many people need or want to start at 62, and that's a personal decision. Also, remember you can always: 1. Claim survivor benefits first and then switch to your own retirement later, OR 2. Claim your own retirement first and then switch to survivor benefits Whichever gives you the highest benefit for the longest time.

Ugh I spent HOURS trying to get through to SS on the phone last month to ask almost this exact question!!! Kept getting disconnected or waiting forever. Finally I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real person at SSA in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent I spoke with confirmed what others are saying here - if your husband claims early, your potential survivor benefit would be reduced unless you're at FRA when you claim it. Since your benefit is higher anyway, it probably makes sense for you to delay yours as long as possible regardless of what he does. But honestly, I'd recommend talking directly to SSA about your specific situation rather than relying on us random internet people!

One thing no one has mentioned yet - there's a HUGE advantage to the higher-earning spouse delaying benefits until 70 if possible. Each year you delay past FRA increases your benefit by 8%, so waiting from 67 to 70 gives you a 24% higher benefit FOR LIFE. And if that higher-earning spouse dies first, that higher amount becomes the survivor benefit (assuming it's higher than the surviving spouse's own benefit). So in your case, since your benefit is higher than his, you might want to strongly consider waiting until 70 to claim, especially if you have longevity in your family.

Im still confused about something... if the husband takes SS at 62 but then keeps working, doesnt his benefit amount go up? And then wouldnt that mean the survivor benefit goes up too?