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Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Most people think of Social Security benefits as a monthly payment that you start getting in retirement and receive for the rest of your life.
In fact, Social Security is an umbrella term for several federal benefits programs. There are three key groups of people who receive Social Security benefits: retired workers, survivors of retirees, and people with disabilities and their families. How long does Social Security last? It depends on the type of benefit. This is the most familiar Social Security plan, with roots that go back to and the administration of President Franklin D.
There are a number of subcategories. You are eligible for benefits if you are a retired worker who contributed to Social Security during your working years. You can collect the full benefit if you wait until full retirement age , which is age 66 if you were born in the — years. The age increases annually by two months from to until it reaches 67 for those born in and later. Once you start receiving benefits, they continue for your lifetime.
This does not reduce the benefits that the spouse receives. This benefit is generally for spouses who do not have a sufficient work history to be otherwise eligible for benefits or whose work history entitles them to a lower benefit than they would receive from the spousal benefit. The Social Security Administration explains how this works:. The right order for you will depend on the size of each benefit. If both payouts currently are about the same, it may be best to take the survivor benefit at age It's going to be reduced because you're taking it early, but you can collect that benefit from age 60 to age 70 while your own retirement benefit continues to grow.
Then you can collect your own benefit starting at age 70 when it maxes out. Conversely, if your own benefit is small compared to the survivor benefit and will be even at age 70 , you could take your own reduced benefit at age 62, which is the earliest age at which you're eligible. Then, at age 66, you could switch over to the survivor benefit. However, the survivor benefit would be reduced since it was taken early or before full retirement age.
Please contact the Social Security Administration to discuss which benefit to take first before applying for either benefit. Ideally, you want to be sure you're choosing the option that best fits your financial circumstances by considering all of the variables, which could include your age, your deceased spouse's age, and your eligible benefits—including both the survivor and your own retirement benefits. There's an exception for those who recently applied for retirement benefits.
If you became entitled to retirement benefits less than 12 months ago, you might be allowed to withdraw your retirement application and apply for survivor benefits only. You can then reapply for your retirement benefits later when the benefits will be a higher amount. As noted earlier, a widow or widower generally doesn't qualify for their own benefits until age However, that person regardless of age can collect payouts as the caregiver for the deceased's children until they turn The kids themselves qualify for benefits paid to the surviving parent until they turn 18 or 19 if they are still in school.
But between the child's 18th birthday when their survivor benefits cease and the spouse's 60th birthday when their benefits resume , no one in the family is eligible to collect. That's what's known as a blackout period. For example, a woman is left widowed at the age of 30 with a two-year-old son. As her son's caregiver, she is entitled to collect Social Security benefits for 14 years, until his 16th birthday. After that, her son continues to receive his survivor benefits for two more years, until he's His mom will be 48 at that point, leaving the family ineligible for any payments until her widow's benefits become available when she's In this case, the Social Security blackout period lasts 12 years.
One possible solution is for families to make sure they have adequate life insurance to support a surviving spouse during any blackout period.
Take, for instance, a couple, both 31 years old, who recently had a child. If either parent dies, the surviving spouse is eligible to collect benefits until they are 47 years old when the child is If they both buy year term life insurance policies and keep up with the premiums, they'll be assured of coverage until age 61—one year after Social Security eligibility is reinstated—in case one of them dies.
If three or more family members are receiving survivor benefits, they may be subject to Social Security's rules that limit the maximum family benefit. Because individual circumstances can vary widely, it is not possible to apply for survivor benefits online. However, you can apply over the phone or by appointment at your local Social Security office. Many insurance plans pay a fixed benefit that may run out years before the survivor dies.
In addition to long life, another unpredictable reason a survivor may outlive the benefits is inflation! Inflation may be the biggest financial uncertainty of all. It erodes the value of fixed incomes, making them worth less and less as time goes by. Few, if any, private insurance plans will fully insure a survivor against inflation. In fact, no known insurance company has guaranteed to match SBP benefits at equal cost or less.
One reason is that SBP premiums have a built-in discount in the form of the government paying a significant portion of the premiums and all program operating costs , making the Plan a good buy for most people. Another consideration is that SBP premiums reduce the retiree's taxable income and reduce out-of-pocket costs for coverage.
SBP benefits are taxed as income to the survivor however the tax rate upon receipt of the annuity will generally be less than the member's current tax rate. Most insurance plans are the reverse; premiums are paid from after-tax income, while survivors are not taxed on the proceeds. In effect, SBP protects part of the member's retired pay against the risks of:. Still, SBP alone is not a complete estate plan. Other insurance and investments are important in meeting needs outside the scope of SBP.
For example, SBP does not have a lump sum benefit that some survivors may need to meet immediate expenses upon a member's death. On the other hand, insurance and investments without SBP may be less than adequate. Now Reading:. Membership My Account. Rewards for Good. Share with facebook. Share with twitter. Share with linkedin. Share using email. Widows and widowers Most recipients of survivor benefits — 65 percent of them as of September — are older surviving spouses or surviving divorced spouses of deceased workers.
Some exceptions exist if the marriage is to someone receiving certain kinds of Social Security benefits. Becomes entitled to a retirement benefit that exceeds any survivor benefit. Children Generally, benefits for surviving children stop when a child turns Parents Parents of a deceased worker can receive survivor benefits, singularly or as a couple, if they are 62 or older and the worker was providing at least half of their support.
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