Will taking SS at 62 reduce my survivor benefits if husband delays until 70?
I'm trying to figure out our best Social Security strategy as my husband and I approach retirement age. We're both 60 now, and I'm considering taking my benefits early at 62, while he would wait until 70 to maximize his amount since he's still working and has the higher earnings history. What's confusing me is what would happen with survivor benefits if he passes away after he starts collecting at 70. Would I still receive his full amount as a survivor benefit, or would my benefit be permanently reduced because I started taking MY benefits early at 62? I've heard conflicting information about this. Some people say I'd get his full amount regardless of when I started my own benefits, but others say my survivor benefit would be reduced. Can anyone clarify how this works? It makes a big difference in our planning.
17 comments
Join the conversation
Amina Diallo
This is actually a common question with a somewhat complicated answer. If you take your retirement benefits at 62 and your husband waits until 70, then he passes away, you would be eligible to receive his FULL benefit amount as a survivor. Your early filing penalty for your OWN benefit doesn't reduce your survivor benefit. However, you can't receive both your own reduced benefit AND his full benefit simultaneously. Social Security will pay you the higher of the two amounts. So essentially, you'd switch from your reduced benefit to his higher benefit. This is actually a good strategy for many couples where one person has a significantly higher benefit amount. The lower-earning spouse can claim early while the higher earner delays, maximizing the eventual survivor benefit.
0 coins
CosmicCowboy
•Thank you so much for clarifying! So if I understand correctly, I could take mine at 62, and then if he passes away after starting his at 70, I would simply switch to receiving his full amount? That's a huge relief - I was worried my early filing would permanently reduce any future survivor benefits.
0 coins
Oliver Schulz
WRONG information above!! My mother took her SS at 62 and when my father died last year, the SS office told her she was PERMANENTLY REDUCED on her survivor benefits because she claimed early!! They said something about her "survivor FRA" being different than her regular FRA. She only gets like 82% of what my dad was getting because of this!!!! Be careful!!!!!
0 coins
Natasha Orlova
•I think there's some confusion here. Let me try to clarify what likely happened with your mother's situation. There are two different early filing reductions: 1. If you take your OWN retirement benefits early, they're reduced. 2. If you take SURVIVOR benefits before your survivor FRA (which can be different than regular FRA), those are also reduced. If your mother was already receiving reduced retirement benefits and then applied for survivor benefits before her survivor FRA, that would explain the reduction. But if someone waits until their full survivor benefit age to apply for survivor benefits, they get the full amount regardless of when they took their own retirement benefits. This is why timing matters so much with Social Security benefits - it's incredibly confusing but makes a huge financial difference.
0 coins
Javier Cruz
My husband and I were in a similar situation. I took mine at 62 and he waited till 70. When he passed three years later I got his full amount, thank goodness. The SS office was actually helpful when I called to switch over.
0 coins
CosmicCowboy
•I'm sorry for your loss, but thank you for sharing your real experience. It's reassuring to hear from someone who actually went through this. Was the process of switching to his benefit complicated?
0 coins
Emma Wilson
Wait im confused does this mean u can get both benefits at the same time? I thought u only get one or the other not both? My wife and me are trying to figure this out to and its so complicated lol
0 coins
Amina Diallo
•No, you don't get both benefits simultaneously. You get the HIGHER of either your own benefit or the survivor benefit, not both added together. So in the original poster's case, if she takes her reduced benefit at 62, and later her husband passes away after taking his benefit at 70, she would switch from her smaller benefit to his larger benefit. Hope that helps clarify!
0 coins
Malik Thomas
just wanted to add that my sister waited till her FRA (66+4mo) to get her benefits even tho her husband already passed away before that and she got 100% of his benefit amount. but her friend took SS at 62 and when her husband died she only got a portion of his. so it matters when YOU claim survivors not when u claim ur own i think
0 coins
Natasha Orlova
•This is a key distinction many people miss. There are actually two separate decisions: 1. When to claim your OWN retirement benefits 2. When to claim SURVIVOR benefits if your spouse passes away Each has its own rules and reduction schedules. Your sister's friend likely claimed survivor benefits early (before her survivor FRA), which is why they were reduced. It's not because she took her own benefits at 62. You can actually employ strategies like claiming one type of benefit first, then switching to the other later when it makes financial sense. For example, someone could take reduced survivor benefits early, then switch to their own unreduced retirement benefit at their FRA or later.
0 coins
NeonNebula
I spent hours trying to get through to SSA last month to ask this exact question. Kept getting busy signals or disconnected after waiting forever. Finally tried a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through 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 confirmed what others are saying - if you claim your OWN benefits early but claim SURVIVOR benefits at your full retirement age, you'll get the full survivor amount. If you claim survivor benefits early, they're reduced. Two different decisions.
0 coins
CosmicCowboy
•Thanks for the tip about getting through to SSA! I'll check out that service if I need to speak with someone directly. It's so confusing trying to figure all this out, and the wait times when calling are ridiculous.
0 coins
Oliver Schulz
One thing NO ONE is mentioning is that if you're still working at 62 when you claim, they TAKE AWAY $1 of benefits for every $2 you earn above the annual limit (which is around $22,320 for 2025). So if you're planning to keep working even part-time, claiming at 62 might not make sense!!! They don't tell you this in their fancy brochures!!!
0 coins
Amina Diallo
•That's an excellent point about the earnings test! Yes, if you claim before your FRA and continue working, your benefits can be temporarily reduced if you earn above the annual limit. However, it's important to note that this isn't a permanent reduction. SSA recalculates your benefit when you reach FRA to credit back those withheld amounts. But you're absolutely right that this is a crucial consideration for anyone planning to work while collecting early benefits.
0 coins
Javier Cruz
Just my 2 cents but my financial advisor told me that for women especially it often makes sense to claim early since we tend to live longer. That way we get something earlier in life when we can enjoy it more. Just something to think about.
0 coins
Natasha Orlova
To summarize the key points for your situation: 1. If you claim your retirement benefit at 62, it will be permanently reduced (to about 70% of your FRA amount). 2. If your husband claims at 70, his benefit will be 132% of his FRA amount. 3. If he passes away after claiming, you would be eligible for survivor benefits equal to 100% of what he was receiving - IF you claim survivor benefits at or after your survivor FRA. 4. If you claim survivor benefits before your survivor FRA, they would be reduced. 5. You would receive either your own benefit OR the survivor benefit, whichever is higher, not both. Given these rules, your strategy of claiming early while he delays could work well if the goal is to maximize potential survivor benefits. Just be aware of the earnings test if you're still working when you claim early.
0 coins
CosmicCowboy
•This summary is incredibly helpful! I think I understand much better now. Since he has the higher earnings history, maximizing his benefit by waiting until 70 seems smart for both of us in the long run. Thank you all for the helpful information!
0 coins