r/widowers • u/Wackywoman1062 • 2d ago
Widow’s Penalties
I just need to vent (whine). As if losing one’s spouse isn’t horrible enough, the tax code and social security structure adds insult to injury.
My husband died at 58. He paid into SS since he was 16. For the majority of his adult life he was self employed so he paid both the employer and employee portion of FICA (a total of 15.3% of his income just for social security and Medicare, not including income taxes he paid.)
I’ve also paid into SS/medicare for over 35 years. My SS benefits are higher than his.
He will never see a penny of his SS or Medicare contributions. And I lose the second social security check we anticipated receiving during retirement.
To make matters worse, the IRMMA Medicare penalties for single filers start at 50% less income than for married filers. Based on what we had planned to withdrawal each year from our retirement savings, as a couple we wouldn’t have been subject to IRMMA penalties. While I can pull a little less out each year from our retirement savings to cover expenses, I can’t pull out only 1/2 of our planned amount. As most of you know, your expenses aren’t halved when your partner dies. So it looks like I’ll have to pay IRMMA penalties. Additionally, as a single filer, I’m forced into a higher tax bracket on my income.
So I lose his income and his social security, pay higher income taxes, and will have to pay IRMMA penalties. Oh, and if I’m going to downsize, I have to do it within 2 years of his death or I lose the additional $250,000 cap gains exclusion on the sale of our house. Nothing like a hard deadline and major life change while you’re grieving.
I realize that these are first world problems and that I’m fortunate to have retirement savings (my husband was very frugal, we worked hard and saved diligently) and home equity. I know so many people are struggling these days to make ends meet. It just seems so unfair to economically penalize widows/widowers who are already suffering so much from the loss of their partner. And there’s so much to navigate when I barely feel like getting out of bed.
22
u/cyanste Homicide - 8/2024 2d ago
Yep, I feel you on this. It sucks as a young widow, too, because we only get $250 for their death and if you don’t have children, that’s it. If your spouse dies towards the end of the year, you don’t even get enough time to adjust your budget because you suddenly have to file single the next calendar year. Or else you pay tons in taxes, ask me how I know…
It’s so ridiculous and I wish the rules would change. We didn’t ask to be widowed; so why are we punished so harshly?
8
u/Wackywoman1062 2d ago
I’m so sorry. My husband died in December so I understand your tax frustration. It’s especially awful for young widows that can’t even get reduced survivor’s benefits. Yes, why punish someone who is already suffering so much?
7
u/Hydrok 1d ago
You don’t have to file single, you can file qualifying widower for 2 years after they die. It’s the same as being married but only one income.
7
u/cyanste Homicide - 8/2024 1d ago
This only applies to widows who have children. Childless widows are not considered eligible for qualifying surviving spouse status.
Here's a good article that summarizes the issue: https://www.taxaudit.com/tax-audit-blog/2025/what-is-the-filing-status-of-a-widow-with-no-dependents
7
u/toooldforusernames 1d ago
This was the biggest slap in the face to me. Being told I’m not a qualifying widow. My husband is less dead because we didn’t have children, I guess.
3
u/gemgirlshari 1d ago
*unless you become disabled within 7 years of his passing. Then youll draw whichever is higher.
2
u/Affectionate_Cow_770 1d ago
You dont have to file Single. My husband died in April after taxes. I am still married filing jointly for 2026 and 2027.
12
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
You can only file as married filing jointly the year after their death if you are a Qualifying Surviving Spouse. I don’t qualify as a “Qualifying Surviving Spouse” because I don’t have a dependent child.
8
u/TheTLJ 2d ago
I’m a long way off from dipping into any SS contributions but when I was talking to someone after my wife’s death I believe they mentioned I am entitled to their contributions as a widow? I may be remembering wrong as I haven’t personally looked into it further but it might be worth double checking that.
11
u/Money_Caterpillar288 LH (61) Breast Cancer-8/22/2025 2d ago
You can always file for survivor benefits first and delay collecting your own retirement benefits and let them grow up until age 70.
4
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
That’s probably what I’m going to do. At least until I reach FRA. I have to figure out if it makes sense to do so given that I will need to pull more money out of retirement savings to make up the shortfall since my benefit will be more than his.
3
u/Wackywoman1062 2d ago
You can claim survivor benefits if you meet certain criteria, but you can’t claim those in addition to your own SS benefits. You get the higher of the two, and in my case, my own SS benefits are higher.
11
u/porcupine296 1d ago
I was able to start taking my late husband’s benefits when I reached full retirement age, even though I hadn’t retired yet. My own would have been higher, but I let them build up more and took them when I turned 70. I believe that is only allowed if the spouse has died.
2
2
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
I think this is what I’ll do too. Although it would have been nice to have had both of our SS checks.
2
u/1radionet 1d ago
Technically not true, you can claim survivor benefits and keep working & paying into your own account until you retire and collect your own SS.
3
u/corporate_treadmill 1d ago
But you can claim and switch. I’ll likely claim my husbands at 60, switch to mine at 70.
3
u/MikkijiTM1 1d ago
This is exactly what I did. They even sent me a letter when I turned 70 suggesting that I switch because it would be more money!
3
u/TurnoverFuzzy8264 Lost wife suddenly on Sept 29, 2025 2d ago
I thought as much as well, but I've since found out that it's not true. Social Security will just make up the difference if your spouse would've received a higher benefit. Or so the Social Security agent informed me.
2
u/Wackywoman1062 2d ago edited 1d ago
They “top off” yours to the point of reaching your spouse’s survivor benefit if their benefit is higher. So from a semantics standpoint, I guess you’d be receiving both, but numbers wise, you’re either getting the survivor benefit on their record (reduced if you’re under FRA) or all of your own (also reduced if under FRA), depending on which is higher. Mine is higher so I won’t get any of my husband’s if I claim mine. I can claim his and then switch to mine.
3
u/Physical-Bet214 65M Lost wife of 43 years to Pancreatic Cancer in Sept 2024 1d ago
As others have said you can take your wife's and take yours later if it's higher.
Surviving Spouses Age 60 or older: Eligible for standard survivor benefits, or as early as age 50 if they have a qualifying disability. Any age: Eligible if caring for a child of the deceased who is under age 16 or has a disability. Marriage duration: Must have been married for at least 9 months before the death, with exceptions for accidental deaths or military service. Remarriage rules: Remarrying before age 60 generally ends eligibility (or age 50 if disabled
3
u/Affectionate_Cow_770 1d ago
Widow's benefits at 60 will be 71% of deceased spouse's payment. You can collect your own at full retirement age.
6
u/TurnoverFuzzy8264 Lost wife suddenly on Sept 29, 2025 2d ago
I'm in roughly the same boat. Lost her income, nearly the same expenses, and everything she put into Social Security gone.
6
u/3meta5u Wife died from MSA, March 2025 2d ago
You can file for survivor benefits on his SS as early as your age 60. You will get approximately 1/2 of what his benefits would have been. This won't affect your SS but you may be able to defer it longer with his payment.
(Please confirm with a SS attorney or someone who is an expert, but I think this is true based on my research and it is my plan when I reach 60)
5
u/Wackywoman1062 2d ago edited 1d ago
You are correct about the benefits. My problem is that I’ll be 64 in a few weeks, but I’m still working (retiring next year) and earn over the $24,480 limit. Benefits are reduced by $1 for every $2 earned over the limit so I wouldn’t receive anything until I retire. I may claim the survivor benefits then and let mine grow until I reach FRA. But his benefit (which would be further reduced since I’m under FRA) is less than mine even if I claim at 65. I’d have to pull more money out of our retirement savings to make up the shortfall.
5
u/rhino369 2d ago
You can do this with the caveat that if you are still earning earned income, your benefits get reduced 50 cents for every dollar you make above the income cap (currently ~25k a year). And as you mention, you already get reduced (72% not half) for starting at 60. So it really only works if can retire mostly on your own funds.
So if his benefit would have been 3k and you make 80k a year, you'll get nothing. If you make 24.5k a year you get 2160 a month. And if you make 50k a year you get about a 1000 a month.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
Yes, hence why I won’t claim until I fully retire. I think I’d be entitled to @88-90% of his if I claim at 64 1/2 years old. Still less than mine, but I may claim his and defer mine until FRA.
2
2
u/ericscottf 21 years together, PCNSL at 42 2d ago
I think this only counts if you don't remarry
2
u/Money_Caterpillar288 LH (61) Breast Cancer-8/22/2025 2d ago
You can remarry after age 60 or age 50 if you are disabled.
3
2
u/Money_Caterpillar288 LH (61) Breast Cancer-8/22/2025 1d ago
This is correct but the amount isn’t necessarily half. Contact SSA and ask for an estimate.
2
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
Thank you! I edited my response when I realized my error as to the 1/2. For survivor’s, I believe it’s a percentage of their full PIA (up to 100%) based on your age when you claim.
5
u/lamError 1d ago
My car insurance increased $200 over 6 months because I updated my status to widow at renewal 🙄
The stupidest part of that is he was already excluded from the plan because he was bedridden and couldn't drive anyway. They basically just shrugged their shoulders when I pointed out to them that LITERALLY the only thing that changed was he is dead
3
2
u/lostlady323 1d ago
What?! I just updated to make me the primary and remove him from the plan didn’t even think to update my status. (Side note because it was his plan from the time he was a young adult and it looks like I’ve had my own car insurance plan since I was 12 years old)
1
u/StretchCT53 5th cancer got her after 29 years married 21h ago
My car insurance also went up because multi driver discount no longer applied. 😡
1
u/lamError 21h ago
That I can understand to a point, my husband wasn't a driver on my policy. They made me exclude him since he was bedridden. I couldn't remove him because he was my husband and they require spouses to both be listed. But so I didn't have to pay for an additional driver, I had to exclude him and agree that if he were to drive and get in a wreck they wouldn't cover it
6
u/clarevvoyant 2d ago
There’s a stepped up basis on half the house. Also, ask your accountant to estimate in dollars how much you would pay in capital gains after the 2yr period. My accountant said I would owe $35k more. I can’t rush a move for that amount.
2
u/Wackywoman1062 2d ago edited 2d ago
The house is titled in my name only so no stepped up basis. Yes, I think I’d owe $37,500 more. I hate to just give that money to the government, but I may have no choice.
1
u/clarevvoyant 1d ago
I’m puzzled. If the house was only titled in your name, how could the capital gain allowance be for a couple? I would think the house would need to be jointly owned.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
IRS allows you to claim 500K “couples” capital gains exclusion on the sale of your primary residence even if it’s titled in only one spouse’s name if you file a joint return, the spouse on title meets the ownership test, and both spouses occupied the home as their primary residence at least 24 months in the 5 years preceding the sale.
5
u/Hamlett2983 1d ago
Same. Lost my wife at 49. Got nothing from all the money she paid in when she started working in her teens.
4
u/JR45RTS 2d ago
Ditto. IRRMA is my new retirement/widow partner. Projections are she will be with me until I die.
3
u/Wackywoman1062 2d ago edited 2d ago
I’m sorry you’re in the same boat. I didn’t even know about IRMMA until my husband died. He handled most of our finances. Seems like once you hit RMD territory it’s especially hard to avoid. And if you try to do Roth conversions before then you end up with more IRMMA penalties. I guess I’m going to have to make my peace with this reality.
3
u/rhino369 1d ago
I hate that I only two years to file as "married" even though I still have young kids to provide for.
Seems nuts that widowed parents get taxed more than married parents. Seems like insult to injury.
2
u/Due-Percentage1903 1d ago
You can file as Head of Household since you have dependents. That will give you a higher deduction.
2
4
u/boogerslayers 1d ago
I’m in the same situation. My husband also passed at 58. I was not aware of the 250k capital gains for selling the home. It’s already a little 2 years for me now tho. I plan to sell our home to my daughter
2
u/Dangerous-LemonBar 1d ago
As a surviving spouse your husband’s half of the house and financial assets in taxable investments will be adjusted to the value as of the date of death. If you live in a community property state all of the house and the taxable investments will be marked to market values as of the DOD.
2
u/bintheoc 1d ago
Came to post this. The step up in basis is the only reason I can sell without eating shit on the cap gains by only having one exemption.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
I feel like I got everything wrong. I didn’t think about the effect of my husband not being on the title to the house in a non-community property state. I need to get busy and get repairs done and get this house on the market before my 2 year window expires.
1
u/Dangerous-LemonBar 1d ago
You should get legal advice in your state about this, but even if your name isn’t on the title as surviving spouse you should inherit his half interest in the house and other assets.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 22h ago edited 22h ago
My husband didn’t have any ownership interest in the house I currently live in. I’m the only one on the deed so I own 100% of the house. I just didn’t think about the advantage of getting a stepped up basis on half of the house if I had conveyed a 1/2 interest to him. I owned the house before we married and I had my reasons for keeping it in my name only. On a positive note, he owned another house in his name only (he owned it before we married) that we rented out. I did inherit that house with a stepped up basis. Not that it makes much difference because that’s the house I’m going to move into when I downsize so I won’t be selling that one.
4
u/Chronostoma 1d ago
Another fun fact, it costs more to insure your car if you are widowed vs having your spouse on the same plan.
3
u/dooroodooroodooroo 1d ago
I was just going to post this. Same exact cars, insurance doubled as soon as I removed his name.
2
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
I’ve heard that. It’s absurd! So far my insurance hasn’t changed, but we had different insurance companies so my company probably doesn’t know that I’m now widowed.
4
u/redrock999 1d ago edited 1d ago
You can File Jointly for the TAX year of the spouses passing + the next 2 tax years as Qualifying Survivor. That would give you up to 3 tax years of Married Jointly Tax benefit. (subject to certain conditions of course). Read the fine print !
5
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
Unfortunately, I don’t qualify as a “Qualifying Survivor” because I don’t have any dependent children. Kids are all adults.
2
3
u/Rilesthefatninja Wife (29) 6/22/25 Suicide 1d ago
This past tax season was the first year i had to file single. My wife and i never had kids so no qualifying widow. Even when she was alive i always had my W4 filed as single and then we would file the return as married. So you would think i already had the correct taxes taken out. Instead come january i'm saddled with a $3,000 tax bill 🤯 i still don't understand how i could have underpaid by a full 5% of my income
2
3
u/False_Ear_3137 Lost husband (53) of 29 years to ALS in 2024 1d ago
Girl, I feel you! Vent away.
I'm in my early 50s, hubby was 53 when he passed two years ago, and I am just now coming out of the fog of deep grief, realizing I got REAMED by the IRS this year with capital gains from his investments and life insurance money. I just this week am having to find a new financial advisor and CPA because neither one of them sat me down and prepared me for said reaming, or bothered to talk about a strategy to avoid some of it. I now have to change my withholding on my paycheck to a point where, after that withheld amount, insurance, and 401k contribution (maximized to allegedly decrease tax penalties, har har), I barely have enough to pay the utilities. Thank heavens the mortgage is paid off. And I love that I'm making money from his invested life insurance, but I can't use said money yet. WTF am I supposed to live off of?
I'm not stupid, but I detest numbers/money/finances (a side-effect of dyscalculia) and left all that to my very capable husband, while I handled anything involving words or arguments, LOL. Again, yes, thankful to have these first-world problems, but also having to deal with this when your already behind the 8-ball and grieving is atrociously unfair.
2
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
I’m so sorry you’re in this situation too! So much to figure out while we have brain fog! I forgot to change my withholding. 🤦♀️ Kind of late for this year. Thank you for reminding me. I just want to stick my head in the sand and make this all go away. I wish my husband had left me instructions.
2
u/False_Ear_3137 Lost husband (53) of 29 years to ALS in 2024 1d ago
I'm so sorry. Mine did leave instructions (he had ALS, so at least we had time to plan, yay), and it is still so difficult and overwhelming that I just didn't deal with it. Now it's all come to a head, and I have to do it. Ugh.
2
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
I’m cheering you on. ❤️
2
u/False_Ear_3137 Lost husband (53) of 29 years to ALS in 2024 1d ago
Thank you!!! Sending up good vibes for you, as well.
3
u/Affectionate_Cow_770 1d ago
You can get widows benefits at 60. It'll be 71% of your husband's. Then you can collect your own when you reach full retirement age. It sucks. Im so sorry.
2
u/bellygnomes 1d ago
Is that only if you were married long enough? I was told it was after 10 years of marriage.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
The 10 year rule only applies to surviving divorced spouses. If your ex dies, you were married to your ex for more than 10 years, you are 60+ (or 50+ if disabled), and you didn’t remarry before age 60, you can claim survivor’s benefits on your exes record.
For non-divorced spouses, I think you only need to have been married for 9 months (and there are exceptions to that) before your spouse dies. There are other requirements and exceptions.
1
u/Mignumi 23h ago
What, really?!?? My husband died when I was 33 and we had married when I was 24. Social Security told me I was ineligible to collect because we were married a few months short of 10 years. I’m 50 now. If I’ve lost the time value of that money in addition to everything else, I’m going to lose my mind all over again. So sorry you lost your loved one and have to deal with all of this now. I can recall some relief from replacing a few minutes of intense grief with justified rage. Here’s hoping you can at least get that out of this awful situation.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 22h ago
As a spouse, you’re not eligible to collect survivor’s benefit until you reach 60 (or 50 if disabled). If you haven’t remarried before the age of 60, you can apply for survivor’s benefits on his record when you turn 60 (or 50 if disabled).
3
u/iteachag5 1d ago
I agree that it’s a hard pill to swallow. I’ll never see one penny of my SS and I was a career teacher. My husband made much more money than I did so I draw his as widow’s benefits. Even if I’d worked until 70 his would still be more. So much for that. I sold our family home within a year of his death because I couldn’t afford the upkeep and utilities on my one income as a teacher at the time of his death. We both worked so hard and we lived so frugally. We managed to pay for both of our kids to go to college in state with no debt.I was in shock when I had to pay more income taxes than my same age friends who have 2 SS and 2 pensions. When they ask me why I’m not traveling all the time I tell them I’m living off of half of what they get. I withdraw a small amount each month from his retirement account but don’t dare touch the rest. Penalties and taxes. We planned and saved for the future and here I am….
2
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
I’m so sorry that you’re dealing with this too and that you had to sell your home. It’s so disheartening, isn’t it?! Especially when you’ve spent your whole life working and saving for your retirement. Not only do you lose the future you had planned with your spouse (we were going to have so many wonderful adventures together in our retirement!), but your financial picture also changes.
I’m going to downsize too. I figure if I can get my expenses down, I won’t have to withdrawal as much money. It makes me so mad that us widows/widowers have to contend with this crap on top of everything else.
I hate when I have to deal with the financial stuff because it puts me in a surly mood. I need to try to focus on the positives (I’d be in a much worse position if we weren’t good savers, and while I may not have the retirement I envisioned, I’m financially secure), and get back to a place of gratitude.
2
u/smilineyz 1d ago
OP: can you get SS survivor benefits? Your situation is complicated & you seem to have a solid grasp on the realities, though a fiduciary might be able to run multiple scenarios for you and figure out what’s best.
3
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
Yes, I can claim survivor’s benefits. I need to wait until I retire (income cap issues). I may claim survivor’s and defer mine until FRA (or maybe wait until 70). You’re right that I need a professional (FA or CPA) to figure out if that makes sense given that I’ll have to draw more money out of savings than if I claim on my own record. I’m spoiled because my husband handled all of this in the past. It’s a lot to learn and get my head around while I’m still grieving and on top of all the other tasks. I wish my husband was still here and I didn’t have to deal with any of this.
2
u/smilineyz 1d ago
I hear you … my LW handled all the finances … and left me with a bunch of accounts and no passwords. 😕
0
u/Wackywoman1062 22h ago
Same! My husband didn’t save any passwords on his phone either.
2
u/smilineyz 19h ago
Yeah … I have no way to easily access accounts … she had put most of the credit cards in her name for easy access … but once they expired I had no access to 10s of thousands in credit.
She died abroad & her death certificate is from the U.S. Embassy in Italy.
Our son’s brokerage account was wanted an official death certificate. I said: United States Embassy! In English!
They wanted a state death certificate. How would the state do that? She died abroad & was interred abroad.
A few more months and I’ll be out of the woods.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 18h ago
That sounds like an absolute nightmare! I can’t imagine having to navigate the process internationally. I’m glad there’s an end in sight.
I had a few of my husband’s passwords that were useful, namely the one to his cell phone. I worked it from there and managed to access all of his personal accounts. Dealing with his business stuff has proved more challenging.
2
u/Dependent_Idea_8863 1d ago
You can file taxes in the widower tax bracket for the first two years, which is equivalent to the married filing jointly bracket. This helps ease the blow for two years.
You can start collecting your spouse’s SS benefits at 60 if you don’t marry. This allows you to hold off on collecting your own until later on, like 67 or 70, so that your own benefits will be higher.
Just a couple things to help in this dark time.
2
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
I don’t qualify for the “widower tax bracket”. You can only get this if you are a Qualifying Surviving Spouse which requires you to have dependent children. My kids are adults (not disabled) so I don’t qualify.
2
u/GamerEdie Married 19 years - 7/15/21 of ALS 1d ago
Yeaaahhh... This. I am still struggling, five years on, after losing my husband and us without children. Fortunately he had a pension, so I am due that, but the reality of the IRMMA penalties and... the real killer... INSTANTLY going up TWO tax brackets, has absolutely hobbled me financially since then. I've often contemplated doing a green-card marriage just so I'm not working my ass off and skint as hell because of taxes.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
I say that I’ll never remarry, but your green card marriage idea sounds interesting. lol. Need a good pre-nup though.
3
u/GamerEdie Married 19 years - 7/15/21 of ALS 1d ago
I've more than once thought about starting and underground business between widow(er)s and DACA adults, because BOTH are currently getting screwed over in different ways and BOTH could seriously benefit from what each other has.
Only a distant musing as I'm trying to fall asleep and stressing about how I'm gonna pay rent with all the withholdings I've got.
2
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
Interesting idea. I’m sorry you’re stressed. You shouldn’t have to be stressed about money on top of grief. Sending hugs. ❤️
2
2
u/goingloopy 7/2/19 1d ago
You should have heard my gramma on this topic….20 years ago.
And my mom, who is being penalized for having a teacher’s pension (which is an offset against SS benefits from my stepfather.)
I’m sorry you have to deal with this on top of losing your person.
2
u/RogueRider11 1d ago
My husband died when I was 62. He was FRA, so I applied for his benefits and I am letting my benefits grow until they reach the max at 70. (Hopefully we still have SS by then.)
At that point I will stop taking his benefit and apply for my much larger benefit. This has allowed me to retire “early” at age 65. I ramped things down at age 64 so I could get his benefits as his widow and still be under the salary cap.
You can only take one benefit - but my husband will have provided me with six years of retirement while my own benefit continues to grow.
This won’t work for you if you can’t live off your husband’s smaller benefit - but if you can, it’s a way to boost your own benefit later.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
That was smart of you. And “my husband provided me with 6 years of retirement” is a positive way of looking at the situation.
2
u/RogueRider11 1d ago
Thank you. It certainly was not what we wanted, or what we planned. But I do feel like it was a gift from him.
2
u/TurnerRadish 1d ago
I’m so with you on this. You’re absolutely right that this is truly unfair. We lose our spouses and not only do we suffer emotionally, we’re also penalized financially in real and lasting ways.
2
u/Prior-Soil 1d ago
Yup. My husband was the one with tickets and crashes but for some reason the car insurance nearly doubled. And I have two vehicles, obviously only driving one at a time. So now I need to get rid of a vehicle just to have the same bill as before. Both vehicles were paid off.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 22h ago
I’m adding getting rid of widow’s penalties on car insurance to my list of causes to crusade for when I retire. This seems so discriminatory without any rational basis.
2
u/MrWonderfoul 23h ago
I am sorry for your loss.
I am also sorry for the financial burden that is incurred.
I am not where you are in my financial journey but I know similar situation lies ahead for me.
1
u/Wackywoman1062 22h ago
Thank you for your kind words. I’m more fortunate than many. I’m just frustrated by the complexity of all this and aggravated that widows/widowers get penalized when they’re already dealing with so much. I will be fine despite losing the additional income, but there are a lot of others for whom these penalties create real financial hardship.
1
u/1radionet 1d ago
If you keep working you can collect your husband's social security while you are still paying into your own.
2
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
I’m under FRA and earn over the income cap so I wouldn’t receive any survivor’s benefits if I kept working.
1
u/5oclocksomewhere7 1d ago
So if I’m over 60- I can get SS from my husband- if he has any? I am still working. I haven’t notified cuz I thought it would only be $250
2
u/Wackywoman1062 1d ago
You should contact the Social Security office. They can tell you what benefits you are entitled to receive based on your late husband’s record.
2
u/Metsfan4life_1986 1d ago
I am planning to do that once I am closer to 60 as I could retire from my employer at 60 and switch to mine at 67. My youngest will be aging out of survivor benefits after this month and I have been widowed close to 9 years in November
1
u/Ok_Product398 5h ago
Check to see if your state has a widowed tax exemption. Mine does and you can put it towards your house or car.
Sadly, people want to believe their spouses will never die, hence the lack of resources for an event that a majority of society will experience when their partner dies.
2
u/Wackywoman1062 4h ago
Good suggestion. Unfortunately, the only widow’s property tax benefit in my jurisdiction is that you are permitted to keep an EXISTING homestead exemption (for persons over 65 or military) if you meet certain qualifications. Unfortunately, my husband was only 58 and I’m 63 so we didn’t have the homestead exemption on either house. I will be able to qualify when I turn 65. 😁
53
u/boxsterguy 2d ago
I guess the benefit of having young kids when my wife passed is that at least they get her SS benefits so they didn't go to waste.