Widows Lose $200,000 Over 20 Years When Husbands Claim Social Security at 62

Claiming Social Security at 62 reduces a worker’s benefit compared with claiming at full retirement age or later. If a husband’s full retirement benefit at 67 would be about $1,700, claiming at 62 lowers it to about $1,190, while waiting until 70 raises it to about $2,108. At the widow’s full retirement age, survivor benefits equal 100% of what the husband actually received at death, not what he could have received. This creates a roughly $912 monthly gap that persists for life, totaling over $200,000 over 20 years before future COLAs. Smaller starting benefits also produce smaller annual percentage increases, compounding the difference over time.

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