Subject: Re: New York Times -- Social Security at age 70?

Can I collect my deceased spouse's Social Security and my own at the same time?
AI Overview
No, you can't collect both your own Social Security and your deceased spouse's survivor benefits simultaneously as two separate payments; the Social Security Administration (SSA) will pay you only one benefit, which will be the higher of the two amounts you're eligible for. However, you can strategically choose to receive survivor benefits first and then switch to your own retirement benefit later (or vice versa) to maximize your total payout, often by waiting until age 70 for your own higher benefit, says T. Rowe Price and SmartAsset.



Right, a spouse can only receive either their own benefit or the deceased's benefits but not both.

Assuming if both are the same age and the deceased (high earning spouse) started their social security early, then the surviving spouse will only get that amount.

Currently neither my wife nor I have started social security despite being over 62. My wife's will be more than 50% of mine so she won't need to claim on mine. I told her if I were to die tomorrow that she should immediately apply for her social security and then at 67 apple for my higher amount. If we were to apply for mine right away then the amount would be lower due to claiming earlier on my benefits but by claiming on hers, it won't affect what she would get at 67 on mine. And she can't wait until 70 since the benefit won't go up like it would if I were still alive.

It gets pretty confusing.

Since my pension, which isn't big, gets cut by 50% on my death, I want my social security to be as high as possible if I go first (likely).

Rich