Social Security and You: Spousal and Survivors Benefits for Men

In the past 27 years, I bet I have written hundreds of columns explaining spousal and widows benefits that are available to women on a husband's Social Security account. And usually if I have enough space, I try to squeeze in a line that says the same benefits are available to husbands and widowers, even though I know those benefits to men are rarely paid.

Why is that so? Because a woman's Social Security benefit is almost always smaller than her husband's benefit. And that happens for numerous reasons, but mostly because women tend to take time out of the paid labor force (and thus time away from paying Social Security taxes) to raise children. So a woman is much more likely to qualify for extra benefits off of a husband's Social Security record.

And the obvious reason why women qualify for widows benefits more often than men get widowers benefits is because most wives outlive their husbands.

And the numbers back this up. There are almost 2 million women who get spousal benefits from a husband's account. But there are only 140,000 men who get benefits as a dependent husband on their wife's Social Security record. Similarly, there are about 3.6 million widows getting survivors benefits but only about 170,000 widowers getting them.

But maybe times are slowly changing. In more than a few married households today, the wife is making more money than the husband, meaning she could end up with higher Social Security benefits than her husband. And maybe men are starting to take better care of themselves physically and thus living as long as, if not longer, than their wives. Why am I saying this? Because I've been getting more and more emails from men asking me about spousal and widowers benefits. Here are some examples.

Q: I am 62 years old. I've had jobs sporadically throughout my life. But most of the time, I stayed home to care for our children and later our grandkids. My 65-year-old wife is a doctor. She is about to retire her practice and she plans to file for Social Security soon afterward. I plan to file for mine at the same time. The work I've done over the years has earned me a very small Social Security benefit on my own. But I'm wondering if I will be due any spousal benefits on my wife's record. If yes, can I file for my own benefits now -- and then when I reach full retirement age, switch to the higher spousal rate?

A: It sounds like you will be due spousal benefits on your wife's record. But you must file for both your own retirement and spousal benefits at the same time. At 62, you will get about 75% of your full retirement benefit rate. And then that benefit will be supplemented up to around 30% of your wife's full retirement age benefit. Or to put that another way, if 30% of your wife's FRA benefit is higher than 75% of your own benefit, you'll get the difference in a supplemental dependent husband's benefit.

Q: My wife of 40 years sadly died last year at age 62. She was still working at the time of her death. I just turned 62 and am thinking of retiring. I always made more money than my wife, so my Social Security benefit is going to be more than hers would have been. Would I possibly be due any benefits on my wife's record?

A: Yes, you should be. You could employ what is normally referred to as the "widow's option." But of course, in your case, we'll call it the "widower's option."

In the answer to the prior question, I told the husband who was due two benefits (his own and something off his wife's record) that he could not file for one benefit and wait until a later date to file for the other one. That is because of Social Security's "deemed filing" rule that essentially says when you file for one Social Security benefit, you are deemed to be filing for any and all other benefits you are due at the same time.

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.

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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.