I get a lot of emails from women who have questions about the widows benefits they are already getting. Or they have questions about the widows benefits they think they will be getting in the future. I’ve saved up a few of those and will answer them in today’s column.
Q: I am 70 years old. My husband has stage-four lung cancer. He is 72. He waited until he was 70 to start his benefits. He is getting $3,366 per month. I only worked on and off during our marriage, so my own benefit is small. And I took reduced retirement at age 62. I get $900 per month. I called Social Security to find out what I would get when my husband dies. The agent told me that because I took reduced retirement benefits, my widows benefit also would be reduced. She said she couldn’t give me an exact number, but figured I would get about $2,000 per month. I was a little uncomfortable with that information. So, I called again and talked to a different representative. This guy told me that I would get a full 100 percent widows benefit, but it would be 100 percent of my husband’s full retirement rate, not his age-70 rate. He said I would keep my own $900 and get about $1,625 in widows benefits to take me up to my husband’s full retirement rate of $2,525. Does that sound right to you?
