Hi - a widow wants combine benefits. She had a deceased spousal benefit of approx, $2000 and her own benefit of approx. $1500. She was 62 and wanted to claim early, FRA 66. Husband passed at 68. Isn't it true that if she were to claim all she was eligible for, she would receive $2000 reduced for early claim? Or would ssa calculate based on her own $1500 with 25% reduction = $1125? She is questioning, a receipt of both benefits. Thank you
Hi. The widow in your question should definitely not file for both her own benefits and widow's benefits simultaneously. Here's an example to illustrate. Let's say a widow's own primary insurance amount (PIA), which is what she would receive if she files for her Social Security retirement benefits at her full retirement age (FRA) of 66, is $1500. Her deceased husband's PIA is $2000, and he started collecting his benefits at his FRA.
If this widow filed for both retirement and widow's benefits at age 62, her own benefit rate would be reduced for age to roughly $1125. Her unreduced widow's rate would be calculated by subtracting her PIA from her husband's PIA, which in this case is $500 (i.e. $2000 - $1500). That amount would then be reduced for age to $405, giving her a combined benefit rate of $1530 (i.e. $1125 + $405).
What the widow could instead do is file for her own reduced amount of $1125, then at FRA apply for unreduced widow's benefits. She'd then get a combined amount of $2000 (i.e. $1125 + $875) starting at FRA, instead of being stuck for life with a reduced combined monthly rate of $1530. Or, she could file just for reduced widow's benefits first at a reduced rate of $1620, then file for her own benefits at age 70 at which time her own rate with delayed retirement credits would be $1980.
The optimal filing strategy for widow(er)s depends largely on their own benefit rate, their deceased spouse's benefit rate, and whether or not their spouse collected reduced retirement benefits prior to their death. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) is programmed to analyze all of these various factors so that people can determine their best strategy for maximizing benefits.
Best, Jerry
