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Hernando Today

Undecided About When To Apply For Benefits

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By ADON TAFT

Life To The Fullest

Published: June 17, 2008

Having read your column with great interest, I thought I would write you. I am a widow who will be 60 in December. My question is this:
Because of his illness, my husband took his social Security at age 62. If I decide to take my widow benefits at 60, is it based on his early retirement or on what he would have gotten if he waited till full retirement?
The way things are going, as much as I would like to wait until 62, I don't think I can afford to. How would I figure what I would get a month or will the Social Security office help me?

S.M., Brooksville

One thing in your situation is not clear to me. You indicate that your husband took early retirement because of illness. It would make a difference if your husband received disability payments or early retirement payments.
If he was receiving disability payments, the amount of his benefit would be the amount he would have been entitled to at the full retirement age, now 66. There would be no reduction in the benefit because he received it before that age.
The amount of your widow's benefit would be that same amount if you waited until age 66 to take Social Security. If you take it at age 62, the amount would be reduced by 19/40ths of one percent for each month you are younger than 66 when you begin receiving benefits. If your husband was receiving a reduced retirement benefit because he took his Social Security before reaching the full retirement age, your widow's benefit would be based on that reduced amount he was receiving. That amount would be what you would receive at the full retirement age of 66.
However, if you take your benefit at age 62, that amount would be reduced by 29/40ths of one percent for each month you are younger than the full retirement age when you begin receiving benefits.
The people at the Social Security office in Dade City, 13841 Seventh St., phone 576-7460, would be glad to explain to you what your benefit would be.
Could you please clarify for me your answer in your June 10 column to the question from the woman asking about a spousal benefit based on her present husband's work record or a widow's benefit based on her first husband's Social Security benefit. Did I understand you to say that she would be receiving the same amount as her present husband's benefit?

A.G., Brooksville

No. I apparently did not make the answer clear.
A wife's spousal benefit (based on her husband's work record) amounts to half of the benefit of her husband if she waits until full retirement age of 66 before applying for Social Security. If she applies at age 62 or any later age less that 66, her benefit would be reduced by 25/36ths of one percent for each month she is younger than 66 when she applies.
If she has a work record of her own, Social Security will compare the amount of the benefit she would be entitled to on that record with what she would be entitled to as a spouse and give her the higher of the two. (Technically, if the spousal benefit would be higher, she would receive the benefit from her own work record plus the difference between that amount and the amount of a spousal benefit.)
However, if she takes the benefit based on her own work record at age 62, her benefit would be reduced by 5/9ths of one percent for each month she is younger than 66 when she begins receiving Social Security.
A widow's benefit is the same as her husband's benefit was. But if she applies for Social Security before reaching the full retirement age, presently 66, the benefit is reduced by 19/40ths of one percent for each month she is younger than 66.
She cannot receive a widow's benefit before age 60 unless there are young children involved.

If you have questions about any issues related to aging, except; medical conditions, please; write to Life to the Fullest, Hernando Today, 15299 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville, Fla. 34613, or send e-mail to adontaft@yahoo.com. Please include your name and address.

Adon Taft is a resident of Brooksville.

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