Will taking Social Security at 62 reduce my survivor benefits if husband waits until FRA?
I've been going in circles trying to understand survivor benefits rules. I'm turning 62 next month and planning to claim my own Social Security benefits early (I understand I'll only get about 70% of my full benefit). My husband is 61 and wants to continue working until his full retirement age of 67. He earns around $125,000 annually, and we're happy with his company's health insurance. My question is about survivor benefits: If I claim at 62 but my husband waits until 67 to file for his benefits, and then he passes away after that (hopefully not for many decades!), would my early filing affect the survivor benefits I'd receive? I've read conflicting things online. Some sources say I'd be able to switch to 100% of whatever he was receiving at death, but others suggest my early filing permanently reduces ALL my benefits including survivor. I've calculated that the break-even point for waiting vs. claiming early is around age 78 for me, which feels like a gamble I'm willing to take. But I want to make sure I'm not accidentally reducing potential survivor benefits down the road. My husband wants to know how long he needs to keep working to maximize my protection if something happens to him. Any clarity would be greatly appreciated!
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Oliver Alexander
Good news - your early filing for your OWN benefits will NOT reduce your survivor benefits. These are completely separate entitlements in the Social Security system. If your husband waits until his FRA (67) to claim, and then passes away at any point after that, you would be eligible to receive 100% of his benefit amount as a survivor benefit, regardless of when you claimed your own retirement benefits. You'd essentially get to switch from your reduced benefit to his full benefit. The only reduction to survivor benefits would occur if YOU claim survivor benefits before YOUR full retirement age. But since you're planning to wait until at least your FRA for any potential survivor claim, you're making the right moves. Your husband waiting until his FRA is actually a great strategy for maximizing your potential survivor benefit. If he wanted to increase it even more, he could delay past FRA up to age 70, which would increase your potential survivor benefit by 8% per year of delay.
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Kaylee Cook
•Thank you so much for explaining this! So just to make sure I understand correctly - my claiming at 62 will permanently reduce my OWN retirement benefits, but has absolutely no impact on what I could receive as a widow later (assuming I claim survivor benefits at my FRA or later)? My husband was wondering if he should wait until 70 to maximize what I'd get if he passes, but that seems like a lot of extra years of work just for that purpose.
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Lara Woods
I went through this EXACT scenario!!! my husband worked until 67 and i took mine at 62. when he passed last year (at 72) i was able to switch to his FULL benefit, even though i took mine early. they give you the higher of the two. my early filing didn't hurt my widows benefit at all. wish someone had made this clearer years ago when i was worrying about it!
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Kaylee Cook
•I'm so sorry for your loss, but thank you for sharing your real experience. That's very reassuring to hear that it worked exactly as some of the comments here suggest. It's frustrating how difficult it is to get clear information on these important life decisions.
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Adrian Hughes
Just want to add some technical detail to what others have said. The official term SSA uses for this is "Independent Entitlement" - your retirement benefit and your potential widow's benefit are considered completely separate. However, one thing to consider: if your husband passes away before he files for his benefits (say he dies at 65 before reaching his FRA), your survivor benefit would be based on his "Primary Insurance Amount" (PIA) with a potential widow's limit involved, not on what he would have received had he lived to 67 and filed. There's also something called the RIB-LIM rule that might apply in certain scenarios, but it wouldn't impact you if you wait until your FRA to claim the widow's benefit. Also worth noting that you can actually switch back and forth between benefits to maximize your lifetime payout. So your current plan is solid - take your reduced retirement at 62, then if he unfortunately passes away after filing at 67+, you can switch to the higher survivor benefit.
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Molly Chambers
•what is this RIB-LIM thing? never heard of it before and now im worried it might effect me too
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Adrian Hughes
@anxiousretirement RIB-LIM is the Retirement Insurance Benefit Limitation. It's a complex calculation that potentially limits survivor benefits when the surviving spouse took their own retirement benefits early. However, it primarily affects people who take survivor benefits before their FRA. Since the original poster plans to wait until her FRA to take any survivor benefits, she wouldn't be affected by RIB-LIM rules.
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Molly Chambers
•ok thats good to know!! SS has so many weird rules its hard to keep track
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Ian Armstrong
My wife claimed at 62 and I waited till 70. Then I died last year (just kidding! But my brother did). His wife got his FULL benefit even though she had claimed early. So what everyone is saying is correct. The real question you should be asking is whether your husband should wait until 70 instead of just FRA because that would increase YOUR survivor benefit by another 24% if he passes after that. That's what I did for my wife.
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Kaylee Cook
•You gave me a heart attack with that joke! 😅 But thank you for the insight. We've discussed him waiting until 70, but he's really looking forward to retiring at his FRA. I think we're comfortable with the protection level his FRA benefit would provide me.
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Eli Butler
THIS IS WHY THE SYSTEM IS SO MESSED UP!!! I spent HOURS on the phone with SSA trying to get a straight answer about this exact situation for me and my husband. Every rep told me something different and I couldn't get anyone to explain it clearly!! Their website is confusing, their pamphlets contradict each other, and don't even get me started on their hold times. I literally had to take a day off work just to try to get through to someone who understood the rules. Why do they make this SO COMPLICATED??!!
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Marcus Patterson
•I had the same frustrating experience trying to get through to SSA. After being on hold for over 2 hours multiple times and getting disconnected, I discovered a service called Claimyr that got me through to a real person at Social Security in under 20 minutes. Saved me so much stress! I was skeptical at first but it actually works - you can see how it works in their video here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Their website is claimyr.com if you need to call SSA again for any clarification. Much better than wasting an entire day on hold.
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Molly Chambers
i thought if you take any SS early you're permanently reduced on everything? thats what my neighbor said happened to her sister. now im confused
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Oliver Alexander
•Your neighbor might be referring to a different scenario. Here's the simple breakdown: 1. If you take YOUR OWN retirement benefits early - those are permanently reduced. 2. If you take SURVIVOR benefits early (before your FRA) - those survivor benefits are permanently reduced. 3. BUT taking your own retirement benefits early does NOT reduce future survivor benefits if you wait until your FRA to claim them. So in the original poster's case, she can take her own benefits at 62 (with a permanent reduction to those), but later switch to full survivor benefits if her husband passes away (assuming she claims those survivor benefits at her FRA or later).
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Lara Woods
Also don't forget about that one-time $255 death benefit when a spouse passes away. Not much but better than nothing I guess.
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Ian Armstrong
•That $255 death benefit hasn't changed since the 1950s! Barely covers a flower arrangement these days. They really need to update that amount for inflation.
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Kaylee Cook
Thank you all for the helpful responses! This has cleared up so much confusion for me. I appreciate the technical details and real-life experiences shared here. I'm going to go ahead with my plan to claim at 62, and my husband will still plan to work until his FRA of 67. Knowing that my early filing won't impact potential survivor benefits gives me peace of mind. I'm also relieved to learn about being able to switch between benefits if circumstances change. Social Security really should make this information clearer on their website and publications!
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