When a spouse dies, the surviving spouse may be eligible for survivor benefits from Social Security — a monthly payment based on the deceased's earnings record. Most people know this benefit exists. What most people don't know is that there's a claiming strategy that can meaningfully increase your lifetime income.
The basic rule:
As a surviving spouse, you can claim survivor benefits as early as age 60 — or 50 if you're disabled. You can also claim your own retirement benefit, based on your own earnings record, starting at 62. These are two separate benefits, and you don't have to claim both at the same time. Source: Social Security Administration, ssa.gov/benefits/survivors.
The 'file and switch' strategy:
If your own retirement benefit will ultimately be higher than the survivor benefit — which is common if you had significant earnings of your own — consider claiming the survivor benefit first, at 60 or whenever you're eligible, and then switching to your own retirement benefit at 70, when it reaches its maximum.
Your own retirement benefit grows by approximately 8% per year for every year you delay past full retirement age, up to age 70. The survivor benefit does not grow the same way. So the strategy is: take the survivor benefit now, let your own benefit grow, then switch.
This works in reverse too:
If the survivor benefit is larger than your own retirement benefit will ever be, you might claim your own benefit early and switch to the survivor benefit later.
Why this matters:
The difference between an optimized and unoptimized claiming strategy can be tens of thousands of dollars over a lifetime. This is worth a dedicated conversation with a financial advisor or a Social Security claiming specialist before you make any decisions.