Decision Tree Insurance

Category: Insurance

Claim Now, Switch Later: The Widow’s Sequencing Rule, and When It Fails

Black and white stick-figure infographic showing how a widow may claim Social Security survivor benefits first and later switch to her own retirement benefit at age 70.

If you’ve lost your spouse and you also have your own Social Security record, you may be able to claim your survivor benefit now and switch to your own retirement benefit later, or start with your own and switch to the survivor benefit. A survivor benefit is the monthly payment based on your late spouse’s […]

Two Different “Full Retirement Ages” Are Hiding in Your Survivor Benefit

Black and white stick-figure infographic comparing Social Security survivor full retirement age with regular retirement full retirement age, including the 1960 example of age 66 and 8 months versus 67.

You’re probably here because two ages aren’t lining up. Your Social Security statement, or someone on the phone, gave you one full retirement age (the age at which a benefit is paid with no reduction for starting early), and the survivor benefit (the benefit paid to a widow or widower based on a deceased spouse’s […]

Social Security Benefits for Dependent Parents: Who Qualifies

Black and white stick figure infographic showing that a parent can get Social Security after a child dies only if the parent was financially dependent, at least age 62, and can prove at least half support within two years.

If you want to know how Social Security can help a parent you support financially if you die, you’re in the right place. When you pay at least half of a parent’s living costs, such as rent, food, and medical care, Social Security can pay that parent a monthly survivor benefit (a payment to family […]

Your Ex’s Social Security After Remarriage: 3 Questions, 6 Outcomes

Stick-figure infographic showing how remarriage affects Social Security benefits on an ex-spouse’s record, including the different rules when the ex is alive or deceased.

If you remarried after a divorce and your ex is still alive, Social Security generally won’t pay you a benefit on your ex’s work record (the earnings history Social Security uses to calculate benefits) while you’re married. Your age when you remarried doesn’t change that. If your ex is alive, your age doesn’t matter, because […]

Disabled Adult Child Social Security Benefits: 3 Triggers

Stick-figure infographic explaining Social Security Disabled Adult Child benefits, the three events that can trigger DAC, and how a direct life insurance payout can affect SSI.

If your child has a disability, you’ve probably already run the “what happens when I’m gone” scenario in your head more times than you’d like to admit. But here’s the version most parents miss: this isn’t only a when-I-die question. It can turn on the day you file for your own retirement, or the day […]

Why Your Widow and Kids Won’t Each Get a Full Check

Stick-figure infographic showing how the Social Security family maximum can reduce combined survivor benefits for a spouse and two children below the total suggested by their individual percentages.

Your spouse can get up to 100% of your benefit. Each of your kids can get up to 75%. Add that up for a family of four, and it looks like Social Security would replace nearly triple your income if you died. It won’t. A separate rule — the family maximum — caps what your […]

Social Security’s Death Benefit Hasn’t Changed Since the 1950s. It’s $255.

Stick-figure infographic explaining the Social Security $255 death benefit and when savings, survivor benefits, or term life insurance may be the better solution.

You’re not wrong to be confused: Social Security’s $255 death benefit hasn’t moved since 1954. But whether that number should worry you has less to do with inflation than with three things — what’s in your accounts, whether you have kids, and who’s counting on your paycheck. Here’s how to tell which one is your […]

Does Social Security Use Your Last Salary or Highest Years?

Stick-figure infographic showing how Social Security survivor benefits for a worker who dies before 62 can exclude low-earning years and use fewer than 35 computation years.

Social Security doesn’t calculate your family’s survivor benefit off your last salary. It doesn’t even use a flat 35 years, no matter what you’ve read. It uses your highest-earning years — and for anyone who dies before 62, the number of years it counts shrinks along with your age. That single fact is why two […]

Social Security Survivor Benefit Stops at Age 16, Not 18

infographic showing that a Social Security mother’s or father’s survivor benefit stops when the youngest child turns 16, while the child’s own survivor benefit continues.

There’s a Social Security survivor benefit that disappears years before most families expect it to — and it isn’t your child’s. It’s yours. If you’re the surviving parent caring for a child under 16, your own monthly check ends on their 16th birthday, even though their own benefit keeps coming until 18 or 19. This […]

Are Social Security Survivor Benefits Means-Tested? What Actually Sets the Amount

infographic showing that Social Security survivor benefits are based on the deceased worker’s earnings record, not the survivor’s savings, 401(k), home, or inheritance.

Turn on the news and you’ll hear Social Security described as an entitlement, or grouped in with government assistance programs. That framing has done real damage, because it leaves people believing their benefits somehow depend on how much they need them. They don’t. Social Security is a national insurance program, and you’ve been paying the […]