Social Security and You: Spousal and Survivors Benefits for Men

But that deemed filing rule goes out the window for widows and widowers. And so you have options. For example, you could file for widowers benefits now, and at your full retirement age, switch to 100% of your own benefit. Or you could wait until age 70 to make the switch and end up with about 130% of your retirement benefit.

And to help other widowers (and widows) with slightly different circumstances understand the rules, let me give some other examples of how this widow(er)s option might be used. Let's say 62-year-old Jerry's full retirement age Social Security benefit was $2,200 per month. And let's say his wife, Carole's, FRA benefit was $2,500 per month. And Carole died. Here are some options for Jerry to consider:

He could file for reduced widowers benefits now and get about 80% of her full retirement rate, or $2,000. Then at his full retirement age, he could switch to 100% of his FRA rate, or $2,200. Or he could wait until 70 and get an augmented benefit of about $2,860 per month.

Another option would be for Jerry to file for reduced retirement benefits first. He'd get 75% of $2,200, or $1,650 per month. And then at his full retirement age, he could switch to 100% widowers benefits, or $2,500 per month. (There are no augmented widow(er)s benefits after FRA, so there would be no point in waiting until 70 to switch to widowers benefits.)

Q: I am a retired teacher in California. I never paid into Social Security but get a California teacher's pension of $3,800 per month. My wife worked and paid into Social Security all her life. She gets a $1,900 Social Security benefit. I recently learned that because of some dumb pension offset law, I won't get anything from my wife's Social Security if she predeceases me. Can you explain this?

A: Yes, I can. The Government Pension Offset law just says that a non-Social Security retirement pension (like your teacher's pension) will be treated the same way as a Social Security retirement pension. For example, if you were getting $3,800 in a Social Security retirement benefit, you never would be due widowers benefits on your wife's record because your own retirement benefit is so much higher. The GPO law simply treats your teacher's retirement pension the same way. Because it is so much higher than your potential Social Security widowers benefit, you would not be due that benefit if your wife dies before you do.

========

If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has two books with all the answers. One is called "Social Security -- Simple and Smart: 10 Easy-to-Understand Fact Sheets That Will Answer All Your Questions About Social Security." The other is "Social Security: 100 Myths and 100 Facts." You can find the books at Amazon.com or other book outlets. (If ordering the "Simple and Smart" book from Amazon, click on "See all formats and editions" to make sure you are getting the 2024 edition.) Or you can send him an email at thomas.margenau@comcast.net. To find out more about Tom Margenau and to read past columns and see features from other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.