Losing a spouse can be both emotionally and financially devastating. If you're a widowed spouse, Social Security survivor benefits may help fill the financial void. Survivor benefits are paid to surviving spouses (and sometimes dependent children and elderly parents) of deceased workers who earned enough to be covered by Social Security.
If you're a surviving spouse, you can receive benefits starting at age 60, or 50 if you have a disability. You may even qualify for survivor benefits using a late spouse's work record, provided that you were married for at least 10 years and you aren't remarried by age 60, or 50 if you're disabled. (Regardless of your age, you can receive survivor benefits if you care for your late spouse's child who's younger than 16 or who has a permanent disability.)
There's a key difference between survivor benefits and spousal benefits, which are paid based on the record of a current or former spouse who's still living. You're allowed to take survivor benefits and then switch to your retirement benefit later on, or vice versa. But if you were born after Jan. 1, 1954, you can't file for spousal benefits and switch to retirement benefits later on. (This used to be a common way spouses would maximize their benefits, but Congress changed the rules in 2015.) As a result, if you start one benefit, then switch to another, you can maximize your lifetime Social Security benefits.
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Strategy No. 1: Start with survivor benefits, then switch to retirement benefits
One optimization strategy for widowed spouses is to start taking survivor benefits, then switch to your own retirement benefits later. Some people opt to take their survivor benefits when they become eligible at age 60 (or 50 if they're disabled).
As with Social Security retirement benefits, you receive a reduced amount when you claim before full retirement age, which is 67 if you were born after 1959. Taking survivor benefits as soon as you qualify results in just 71.5% of your maximum survivor benefit, whereas you'll receive 100% once you reach full retirement age.
But by claiming survivor benefits, you can allow your retirement benefit to increase. The payoff increases substantially once you reach full retirement age, because you start earning 8% annual delayed retirement credits. To optimize your Social Security, you'd continue with survivor benefits, then switch to retirement benefits at age 70, when your benefit maxes out.
Strategy No. 2: Start with retirement benefits, then switch to survivor benefits
Another option is to take your retirement benefit, then switch to spousal benefits later. You can take retirement benefits when you turn 62, though you'll reduce your monthly benefit by 30%. You can switch over to 100% of your full spousal benefit once you're 67.
One drawback: You can't receive delayed retirement credits for survivor benefits if you wait past full retirement age. You'll receive the maximum benefit at 67, assuming you were born after 1959. However, if your spouse waited past full retirement age to take Social Security, any delayed retirement credits that they earned would be reflected in your survivor benefits.
Which strategy is best for you?
If your spouse qualified for significantly more Social Security than you do, it's often best to start with your own benefit, then switch to their higher survivor benefit later on -- particularly if they were receiving benefits when they died and earned delayed retirement credits. Keep in mind that with this strategy, you're leaving at least two years' worth of payments on the table, as you can't begin retirement benefits until age 62, whereas survivor benefits can begin at age 60, or earlier if you have a disability.
However, if you earned the same amount or higher, you may be better off starting out with survivor benefits, then switching to your own larger benefits once you've earned delayed retirement credits of your own. That especially holds true if your spouse took Social Security early. When someone has already claimed benefits, survivor benefits are based on the amount they were receiving, so you'd receive a lower survivor benefit as a result.
Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all strategy. Given the complexities of Social Security, it's worth talking over the various scenarios with a financial advisor who specializes in retirement planning.
