SS Survivor Benefits - A Primer

[utvolfan]

If one chooses to take the survivor benefit before FRA, could they allow their own benefit to grow until age 70 and switch then?

[Lillie767]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

survivor benefits are very complex .

it is not as simple as you get what they got .

that is because what you get depends on how hold the survivor is and how how hold the deceased was when they filled , if they filled .

you can see survivor benefits can make your hair hurt.

few mortals really understand the survivor benefit structure. , it isn’t as simple as spousal benefits are

Amen to that.

I have an actuarial background and it is still incomprehensible.

I always made more money than my DH. We both filed for SS benefits at age 62. I was receiving a higher SS benefit than he was receiving. We were both over FRA when he died.

But - when he died, I received an additional SS benefit as surviving spouse. My total SS benefit increased!


I was glad for the extra money since my expenses did not go down when he died, but it made no logical sense to me. But then again, when did anything coming out of Washington make any sense?

[mathjak107]

when he filed pre fra he got a nasty cut from his fra amount .

survivor works differently so it starts out at his fra if he filed early .

then you get a slight reduction from his fra if you don’t file at your fra .

so you are starting out at a higher base amount with survivor …they are totally different calculations then ss retirement

[SunGrins]

I was very surprised when I was told I could draw survivor benefits at 60.

[mathjak107]

you can but you get only 71% of the deceased fra amount ….

survivor has different ages then ss retirement does