Dear Rusty: I am looking for information on my benefits. I am 60 years and 5 months old, and still employed. My spouse died in 2017 and would have been 61 years and 9 months old on July 31, 2019.
My husband was the more highly compensated employee and was employed longer than myself.
Signed: A Survivor
Dear Survivor: You are eligible for a survivor benefit from your deceased husband because you are now 60, but that survivor benefit will be considerably reduced (by about 28.5%) if you take it now. The survivor benefit is reduced if taken before your widow’s full retirement age (which is 66 ½ for you). Taken at your widow’s full retirement age (FRA) you’d be entitled to 100% of the benefit your deceased husband had earned at his passing. But if you take the survivor benefit now - before your normal full retirement age (66 years and 10 months) - and you are working you’ll be subject to
Social Security’s “earnings limit.” If you exceed the limit, it will cause Social Security to withhold some of your survivor benefits. The 2019 earnings limit is $17,640 and it will increase slightly each year until the year you reach your normal FRA, when it will increase by about 2 ½ times; then when you reach your normal FRA there is no earnings limit. What all of that means is that if you take the survivor benefit now and continue to work and earn, your survivor benefit will be reduced from what it could be, and Social Security will take back some benefits if you exceed the earnings limit (they’ll take back $1 for every $2 you are over the limit). Assuming you have earned the requisite 40 credits from your own career, you will be eligible for your own Social Security retirement benefit at age 62, though your own benefit would also be reduced if you take it early (the reduction for your own benefit at age 62 will be about 29.2%). Since at 62 you will have a choice to take either the survivor benefit or your own benefit, you may want to set a goal of getting the highest possible benefit for the rest of your life. To do that I suggest you determine whether the maximum benefit you can get on your own work record (at age 70) is more than the maximum survivor benefit you can get ...
