Will my husband get my higher Social Security benefit immediately if I die before reaching retirement age?

Your husband doesn't need to wait! If you were to pass away (though I hope you have many healthy years ahead), your husband would be eligible for survivor benefits based on your earnings record immediately, regardless of whether you had started collecting your own benefits yet. Because he's already over 60 (the minimum age for survivor benefits), he could apply right away. The amount would be based on what you would have received at your FRA, though it might be reduced since he took his own benefits early. There's something called the RIB-LIM rule that might apply in his case that could affect the calculation, but the key point is that he wouldn't have to wait until you would have been eligible.

when my sister's husband died at 59 (she was 63), she got his benefits right away even tho he hadn't started SS yet. SSA looks at what the deceased would have gotten at FRA i think. but theres a lot of paperwork involved!!

You've received good information already, but let me clarify a few technical points that might be relevant to your specific situation: 1. Survivor benefits in your case would be based on your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is the benefit amount you would receive at your full retirement age. 2. The RIB-LIM rule (Retirement Insurance Benefit Limitation) mentioned earlier means that when your husband switches to survivor benefits, his payment will be limited if he took his own retirement benefits early. The reduction is based on the higher of either: the reduced retirement benefit he was receiving, or the reduced widow's benefit amount. 3. Since your husband took his benefits early, he'll face a permanent reduction to his survivor benefit - approximately 0.5% for each month before his FRA that he claimed his own benefits. 4. Because your benefit would be 65% higher than his, even with the RIB-LIM reduction, he would likely see a significant increase in monthly payments as a survivor. I'd recommend he speak with an SSA representative to get an exact calculation based on both your earnings records.

Trying to get through to SSA to ask these kinds of specific questions can be so frustrating! When I needed to sort out survivor benefits after my wife passed, I kept getting disconnected or waiting on hold for hours. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of the usual hours-long wait. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU that shows how it works. It was worth it to get my questions answered quickly, especially for something as important as survivor benefits where the rules can be really confusing. Just thought I'd mention it since getting accurate information directly from SSA for your specific situation is probably the best approach.

My dad died when he was 56 and mom was 61, and she got his benefits right away. She had to take his death certificate to the SSA office though, they don't just automatically know these things. Also they don't make it retroactive very far back, so don't wait too long if the worst happens.

just to add more confusion to this whole mess the amount ur husband would get also depends on if you were insured for SS or not. I think u need 40 credits (10 years of work) to be fully insured. Also they give u a small one-time death benefit payment of like $255 which is ridiculous considering funeral costs these days!!!

Something else to consider - if your husband switches to survivor benefits after you pass away, he gives up his own benefit. It's not that he gets both. But since you mentioned your benefit would be about 65% higher than his, it would definitely make sense for him to switch. Also, when applying for survivor benefits, they often require an in-person appointment at SSA, which can take weeks to get scheduled in some areas.

i'm confused about something... if the husband already took SS early doesnt that mean he gets a permanently reduced amount forever? even as a survivor?

Thank you everyone for all this helpful information! I feel much better knowing my husband would have immediate access to survivor benefits if needed. I'll definitely make sure we keep good records and that he knows about the application process. I think we'll try to schedule an appointment with SSA to get specific calculations based on our actual earnings records too. This community has been so helpful!