Social Security Survivor Benefit

[MasterBlaster]

I know that this topic has been discussed ad nauseum...

However after reading through some of the threads it is still not clear what the effect of retiring at 62 would have on my wife's SS survivor benefit. I know that the spousal benefit would be reduced but what about the survivor benefit ?

So my question is...

If the wife retires at 62, is her survivor benefit permanently reduced if I were to croak ? In other words would she get less than 100 percent of my benefit if I were to go ? Is the survivor benefit treated the same way as the spousal benefit ?

Lets assume (for this discussion) that when I pass that both the wife and myself are older than the full retirement age.

[EngineeringMyFinances]

There's a PDF you can download from the Boston College website that's germane to your questions.

[pfpelican]

Assuming your spouse's benefit is less than yours, she will receive your's when you die, regardless of the fact that she started her own at 62. If you start at 62, she will less when you die than if you start at 66 or 70, because you receive less. But she gets 100% of what you receive, regardless of when she starts her own benefit.