Social Security payments serve as a very important source of income for retirees who don’t have a substantial amount of savings. Millions of people depend heavily on the monthly payments to cover the cost of their living.
Survivor’s benefits can be redeemed by an individual whose spouse passes away. A survey that was recently conducted shows that 41% of the total survey takers did not know that they might be eligible to inherit the SSA payments on their spouse’s behalf in certain cases.
The Social Security Administration mainly pays out two types of benefits. Retired worker benefits are the first one. Within this benefit are types of benefits, which are retired-worker benefits and spousal benefits. Retired-worker benefits vary according to the lifetime earnings of an individual and the age they started claiming their benefits.
Most beneficiaries can start receiving PIA, which is the base amount, once they reach the full retirement age. The FRA is around 66-67 for most retirees today. The amount that a beneficiary receives is calculated considering their monthly earnings while adjusting it considering inflation. A formula is used to calculate the final PIA that a person receives.
#Spouses can collect #SocialSecurity #retirement benefits based on their spouse’s work records. These benefits are also available to #divorced spouses. Divorced spouses may also be entitled to survivor benefits. Details here:https://t.co/1KI4dHTFAV#SSA #socialsecuritybenefits pic.twitter.com/qeYv9gc4qJ
— Shepherd Elder Law Group, LLC (@KCShepherdEL2) May 28, 2024
A person who starts claiming their PIA after their FRA receives increased benefits. The earliest a person can claim their benefits is at 62. The delayed retirement credits stop at the age of 70, which means that there’s no better time to start redeeming your benefits.
Survivor benefits can be received by widows and widowers following their spouse’s death. The survivor has to be at least 60 years old to be eligible to receive the benefits. The survivor and the deceased spouse have to be married for at least 9 months prior to the death. The survivor loses eligibility if they remarry before the age of 60.
It is common for married couples to receive two different payment checks from the SSA. Both partners receive their retirement benefits if they are retired workers, or one receives retirement benefits and the other receives spousal benefits.
Social Security pays more than retirement benefits–it may provide income to certain members of your family when you die. These benefits are known as survivor benefits, and the rules are more complex than those for retirement. Survi https://t.co/ftn6edqyqI pic.twitter.com/MGG1qoIAcV
— DAVID KASSIR, Miami Financial Advisor (@DavidKassir) May 13, 2025
When one partner dies, the survivor stops receiving one check instead of two. This is when Survivor benefits make sure that the widow or widower continues receiving the larger of the two checks. If the surviving spouse was the one already receiving the bigger check, the benefits they receive remain unchanged.
In case the spouse that passed away was the one receiving the bigger check, the surviving spouse can apply to get their retirement benefits replaced with their deceased spouse.
