Will my survivor benefits be less than my husband's actual Social Security payment? Statement shows $600 difference

As a surviving spouse at FRA, you should be entitled to 100% of your husband's benefit amount. That $600 difference is definitely worth questioning! A few possibilities: 1. The statement might be showing an outdated projection that doesn't include recent COLAs or earnings 2. There might be some adjustment due to government pension offset (GPO) if you have a pension from non-covered employment 3. It could simply be an error on the statement I'd recommend calling SSA directly to get clarification on this discrepancy. They can look at both your records and give you the correct projection.

The same thing was on my statement too! I think they use some weird calculation method that doesn't match real life. My wife was so confused until we talked to someone at our local office who explained it better.

This is a common source of confusion. The survivor benefit amount shown on Social Security Statements is often based on calculations that don't reflect the actual benefit amount being paid. Here's what's likely happening: - The Statement typically shows what your survivor benefit would be if your husband passed away THIS YEAR - It may not include all recent earnings or COLA adjustments - If your husband took benefits early with a reduction, but you claim survivor benefits at your FRA, the reduction doesn't apply to you - Some statements calculate based on the Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) rather than the actual benefit being received You're correct that as a surviving spouse who has reached FRA, you should receive 100% of your husband's benefit amount if it's higher than your own. I'd suggest requesting an appointment with SSA to get a personalized calculation of what your survivor benefit would actually be.

I went through this EXACT situation last year when my husband passed. The SSA statement showed about $500 less than what my husband was actually receiving. When I applied for survivor benefits, I actually received the FULL amount he was getting (minus the month of death payment processing). Don't trust the statement numbers - they're often outdated projections. The actual survivor benefit should be what he's currently receiving.

i had such a headache trying to get thru to ssa about my husbands bennefits!! kept calling for WEEKS and either got busy signals or was on hold for hours just to get disconnected!!! so frustrating!!!

I spent THREE HOURS on hold with Social Security last month trying to ask a question about my survivor benefits after my wife passed. Got disconnected twice! I finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU It was such a relief to finally talk to someone who could answer my questions about the survivor benefit calculations. Much better than waiting on hold all day or trying to figure it out from the confusing statements.

One thing to check - when did your husband start receiving his benefits? If he's getting delayed retirement credits for claiming after FRA (especially if he waited until 70), sometimes the statement doesn't accurately reflect those increases. The statements are often created using formulas that might not capture individual circumstances perfectly. If he waited until 70 to claim, that would explain why his actual benefit is higher than what the statement shows for survivor benefits. When you actually apply for survivor benefits, you should receive the same amount he was receiving.

my aunt went thru this. the statement was wrong and she got the full amount my uncle was getting when she became a widow. don't worry too much about what the paper says!!!

As others have confirmed, if your husband waited until age 70 to claim, the statement is likely not reflecting his delayed retirement credits (DRCs). Each year he delayed past his FRA increased his benefit by 8%, up to a maximum of 32% if he waited from FRA to 70. When you claim survivor benefits, you'll receive the higher of: 1. Your own retirement benefit ($1,300) 2. The actual amount your husband was receiving at the time of his death ($3,600) This is why planning for survivor benefits is such an important part of married couples' Social Security strategy - having one spouse (typically the higher earner) delay benefits to age 70 not only maximizes their lifetime benefit but also potentially provides a higher survivor benefit for the remaining spouse.

I'm dealing with a similar situation right now! My husband is 68 and planning to wait until 70 to claim his benefits, while I'm already receiving mine. After reading through all these responses, it's really helpful to know that the SSA statements might not show the accurate survivor benefit amounts, especially when delayed retirement credits are involved. It sounds like the key takeaway is that as a surviving spouse at FRA, you should receive whatever your husband was actually getting at the time of his passing, not necessarily what the statement projects. The fact that he waited until 70 to maximize his benefit should work in your favor for survivor benefits too. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - it's reassuring to hear from people who've actually gone through this process!

I'm going through something very similar with my mom's situation right now. She's been widowed for about 6 months, and when we were preparing for the survivor benefits application, we noticed the same kind of discrepancy on dad's old SSA statement - it showed about $400 less than what he was actually receiving. When mom applied, the SSA representative explained that those survivor benefit projections on the statements are often based on older data and don't always reflect the most current benefit amounts, especially if there have been recent cost-of-living adjustments or if delayed retirement credits were earned. The good news is that mom ended up receiving dad's full monthly amount, just like what others have shared here. The representative told us that surviving spouses at FRA are entitled to 100% of what the deceased spouse was actually receiving at the time of death, not what some outdated projection shows. I'd definitely recommend calling SSA or visiting a local office to get a current, accurate projection. Don't let that statement number worry you too much - from what I've learned, the actual survivor benefit process uses the real payment amounts, not those potentially outdated projections.