Here’s a special message to all Social Security representatives reading this column: You’re right when you tell customers that as a general rule, they can’t file for reduced benefits on one record and later switch to full benefits on another record. But if you’re talking to a widow or widower, that rule doesn’t apply.
I’ve heard from four readers in the past couple of weeks—three widows and one widower—who were all told they must choose to take benefits on one record or another. And once they make that choice, they can’t change. And that’s absolutely wrong. Widows and widowers have the option of taking reduced benefits on one record and later switching to higher benefits on another record. And the number of readers telling me they’ve been misinformed about this issue (the four people whom I heard from this week is just the tip of the iceberg) tells me this isn’t a few isolated incidents involving a few uninformed Social Security Administration reps. Something must be missing in the SSA’s training sessions because I’ve heard from hundreds of widows and widowers over the years who have been misled on this topic.
