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A recent forum post explored the topic of how to financially protect a surviving spouse. Several commenters mentioned they either had, or were planning to, delay the higher earners Social Security (SS) retirement benefit until 70 to assure that the surviving spouse received the maximum benefit. This is the plan my wife and I are employing, delaying my benefit until I reach 70.
We are currently updating our estate documents, and during a discussion my wife asked me what would happen if I died before I turned on my SS benefit. I researched the issue and found a surprising nuance.
There is a myriad of additional and confusing rules for spouses with children, divorced spouses, and even dependent parents. If you find yourself in this sad situation, you should apply as soon as possible. I remember taking my mother to the local SS office soon after my father died. His benefit was significantly higher than hers and she needed the additional income. Luckily, her experience was good and the benefits were switched seamlessly.
Thanks, Rick and all previous commenters. I found myself in the situation described in your first bullet: Doug died six months before his 70th birthday. Since we were both 69 when he died, I immediately switched from receiving my own lower benefits, upon which he was claiming spousal benefits, to claiming the higher survivor benefits on his account. I was familiar with his plan to wait until 70 to claim his own benefits. One unnerving event (immediately after his sudden death) was that his May benefit was quickly reclaimed from the bank where it had been direct deposited. I knew that the May benefit was payment for April, his last full month of life and thus should not have been reclaimed. It took over two months to get it back. I wonder how often the government mistakenly reclaims the benefit for the month before the person died and keeps the money because the survivors don’t notice the mistake?
Thanks Linda. I’ve heard a few stories similar to yours, although I don’t know the specifics. It’s good you were able to rectify the mistake.
An article titled A Framework for Claiming Social Security Retirement Benefits by Chris Mamula was posted today. I think reading the article was worth my time. Chris asked Olivia Lima that he works with to share the high-level framework she created for their firm’s approach to helping clients determine the optimal strategy for claiming Social Security retirement benefits in the form of a blog post.
https://www.caniretireyet.com/a-framework-for-claiming-social-security/
The article lists four different, and sometimes conflicting, goals as the reasons it is hard to decide as to when to claim your social security benefit.
I was primarily aiming for maximum late-life monthly income so my waiting until age 70 to claim made the strongest argument for me and my four year younger spouse. Only time will confirm if that was the right choice for us.
Bill, thanks for the comment.I also read Chris’ article yesterday – it was definitely worthwhile. Breaking the decision into the 4 goals can definitely help someone think through the decision. I am also aiming for maximum late-life income – my wife has signfincatn longevity inherited family. As you say, time will tell.
As usual Mike Piper puts things clearly https://articles.opensocialsecurity.com/survivor-benefit-calculation/
Rick, can you post a link to where you researched the details?
Michael, I looked at a few sites to understand the rules.
AARP
SSA
Forbes
Great, thank you.
“If you find yourself in this sad situation, you should apply as soon as possible,” you write. That may be good advice if you’re collecting spousal benefits. But if your benefit is based on your own earnings record — or if you haven’t yet claimed benefits — the decision is trickier.
Jonathan, thanks for the clarification. I was referring to our situation that I referenced above – my wife is already collecting her benefit, and past the survivor FRA, and would switch to my larger benefit should I pre-decease her. I should have been clearer. You are absolutely correct that SS can be tricky. The rules are quite complex, and everyone needs to consider their own circumstances when deciding when to claim..
I remember reading through those rules once. I decided it was best if we all just lived a while longer to eliminate any confusion. No telling if a worker at the local SS would be able to correctly navigate through all those decision gates.