My wife is 63, and has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, with less than a year to survive. We applied for and are receiving ssdi. When she passes will I be eligible for spousal, widows, benefits and will this be based on her ssdi benefit of her standard ss benefit?
Also would there be any advantage for me to suspend these benefits and wait until my full retirement age?

Thanks, R

Hi R,

I'm very sorry to hear about your wife's diagnosis.

I can't fully answer your questions without knowing your age, whether or not you're currently drawing benefits, and how much you're earning if you're still working. I can tell you that if your wife qualified for Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits no earlier than the year she reached age 62, her SSDI rate would be calculated exactly the same as her full retirement age (FRA) Social Security retirement benefit. Drawing SSDI benefits is basically the same as collecting your unreduced FRA retirement benefit early, and if a person's disability onset date occurs in the year they reach age 62 or later their SSDI rate is calculated using an average of their highest 35 years of wage-indexed earnings. That's the same number of years used to calculate regular Social Security retirement benefits, and the calculation formula is the same for both benefits.

If a person becomes disabled prior to the year they reach age 62, then fewer than 35 years of earnings would be averaged to calculate their SSDI rate. Even if fewer than 35 years of earnings are used in the average, though, the full SSDI rate is equivalent to the person's primary insurance amount (PIA). And, spousal and survivor benefits are calculated based on the worker's PIA.

Assuming that you were born after January 1 1954, you couldn't file for spousal benefits while your wife is living without also being required to file for your own benefits at the same time. In that case you could only be paid essentially the higher of the two benefit rates, and your benefit rate would be reduced for age if you file prior to FRA. Furthermore, if you file prior to FRA your benefits could be subject to full or partial withholding based on Social Security's earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html). Regardless of your age and earnings, however, you would likely be eligible for a one-time death benefit of $255 in the event of your wife's death.

If your wife dies and assuming that you haven't yet filed for your benefits, then your best strategy would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widower's benefits as early as age 60 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then switch to your own benefits at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record as early as age 62 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced widower's benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help sort all of this out for you so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry