Ask Larry

Here is a basic question that seems incredibly difficult to find an answer to: If I collect my social security at age 62, but my spouse, the higher earner waits until 70 to collect, would the early file penalty follow me as a survivor? In other words, would I be entitled to the full amount my spouse was receiving at their death if I was the survivor, even though I filed early for my own benefit? Thanks

Hi. The basic answer is no, provided that you're at least full retirement age (FRA) when you start drawing survivor benefits. Here's how it works. If you start drawing your own benefits prior to FRA, the resulting reduction for age that's applied to your benefit rate is permanent. But, if you later become eligible for widower benefits, your unreduced widower's benefit rate would be calculated by subtracting your own reduced benefit amount from your wife's full benefit rate. No reduction for age would be applied to the widower rate as long as you start drawing those benefits at FRA or later. So, the result would then be that as a survivor you'd get a combined benefit equal to your deceased wife's full benefit amount.

It sounds like you and your wife should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine the best overall strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry