Spousal Social Security

This question is asked and answered in SSA Pub 10084. I have provided the excerpt below:

If you are already getting Social Security benefits

If you are getting benefits as a wife or husband based on your spouse?s work, when you report the death to us, we will change your payments to survivors benefits. If we need more information, we will contact you.

If you are getting benefits based on your own work, call or visit us, and we will check to see if you can get more money as a widow or widower. If so, you will receive a combination of benefits that equals the higher amount. You will need to complete an application to switch to survivors benefits, and we will need to see your spouse's death certificate.

How much will I receive? The benefit amount is based on the earnings of the person who died. The more the worker paid into Social Security, the greater your benefits will be. Social Security uses the deceased worker?s basic benefit amount and calculates what percentage survivors are entitled to. The percentage depends on the survivors? ages and relationship to the worker. If the person who died was receiving reduced benefits, your survivor?s benefit is based on that amount. Here are the most typical situations:

A widow or widower, at full retirement age or older, generally receives

100 percent of the worker?s basic benefit amount; A widow or widower, age 60 or older, but under full retirement age, receives about 71-99 percent of the worker?s basic benefit amount; or A widow or widower, any age, with a child younger than age 16, receives 75 percent of the worker?s benefit amount. Children receive 75 percent of the worker?s benefit amount.

Upon the death of a worker, the spouse will receive the greater of:

1) His/her own benefit, including any Cost-Of-Living-Adjustments (COLAs); or 2) The deceased spouse?s benefit, including any COLAs.

I think that situation makes it costly to postpone collecting SS on one's own account until age 70.

-- Ron

Assume the surviving spouse had elected an early-retirement benefit at

62 on his/her record. On the other hand the deceased worker had worked until full retirement at 66 and was receiving them at his/her passing.

Would the surviving spouse's portion of the deceased worker's full benefits reflect the surviving spouse's early-retirement reduction?

No. It would reflect the surviving spouse's age if not at full retirement age. See my reply.

A widow or widower, at full retirement age or older, generally receives

100 percent of the worker?s basic benefit amount; A widow or widower, age 60 or older, but under full retirement age, receives about 71-99 percent of the worker?s basic benefit amount; or A widow or widower, any age, with a child younger than age 16, receives 75 percent of the worker?s benefit amount. Children receive 75 percent of the worker?s benefit amount.

On the other hand If the deceased postponed retirement beyond full retirement age, the surviving spouse benefit would reflect that. Thumper

Could you provide a cite for this? What I'm seeing at SSA suggests the opposite (look for RIMLIB and also for "widower's benefit"):

Widower's benefit (definition): "A claimant is entitled to benefit as a Number Holder's (NH) widow(er), ..."

(effective 1/24/11 - present)

RIB LIM (definition): "When a deceased claimant received a reduced benefit, the surviving spouse ... will not receive a full widow(er)'s benefit. This limitation is referred to as the RIB LIM [Retirement Insurance Benefit LIMitation]".

(effective 1/6/08 - present). The rule itself (now that we've dealt with the abbreviations): "A widow(er)'s benefit is limited to the larger of: - 82.5% of the NH's death PIA [primary insurance amount], or - the reduced RIB or DIB [Disability Insurance Benefit] amount to which the NH would have been entitled if he/she had lived (RIB LIM)." (effective 2/2/09 - present) For a nice, relatively plain English discussion of the widow(er)'s limit

- what it is, why it's there, how it plays out, its history, etc., also at ssa.gov, see this 15 page paper:

Mark Freeland

I located an SSA page that's _nearly_ identical to what you wrote:

click on Benefit amounts for a widow or widower) A key difference - the phrasing here is "generally receives 100% of the worker's benefit amount", not "basic benefit amount", which I think you were taking as PIA. "Benefit" (without the "basic") suggests the actual benefit of the deceased, and not the PIA (base amount).

I'm still not convinced, however (in reply to Thumper), that one can get more than 100% of PIA, e.g. if the deceased started taking benefits at age 70. Still looking, and would like something precise, not these muddled "plain English" FAQs with all their "generally"s.

Mark Freeland

Here's a page from the SSA in plain english that makes it clear that the survivor benefit IS based on the decedent's reduced benefit if the decedent had started to receive benefits before reaching FRA. If the decedent had not started to receive SSA benefits when death occurred, SSA performs the calculation assuming the decedent had attained FRA.

*****************Begin Quote******************* How much your family would receive in benefits depends on your average lifetime earnings. The higher your earnings were, the higher their benefits would be. We calculate a basic amount as if you had reached full retirement age at the time you die.

Note: If you already receive reduced benefits when you die, survivor benefits are based on that amount.

These are examples of benefit payments:

Widow or widower, full retirement age or older--100 percent of your benefit amount; Widow or widower, age 60 to full retirement age -- 71.5 to 99 percent of your basic amount; Disabled widow or widower, age 50 through 59 -- 71.5 percent; Widow or widower, any age, caring for a child under age 16 -- 75 percent. A child under age 18 (19 if still in elementary or secondary school) or disabled -- 75 percent. Percentages for a surviving divorced spouse would be the same as above.

There is a maximum amount your family can receive together. There also may be a special lump-sum death payment.

Check our Benefit Calculators for an estimate of the benefits your family could receive if you died right now.

These benefits may be affected if your widow or widower remarries. Also, there are limits on how much your survivors may earn while they receive benefits.

I would look it up but I'm too lazy. I researched it because my wife is 17 years younger than I and I'm contemplating retiring later to maximize her benefits when I'm gone.

You did put your finger on it though when you pointed out that it says the "workers benefit amount" That could be more or less than the "basic amount" depending on when you retire. Thumper