Retirement Finance - Married Survivor Modeling

This page includes an automatic spouse-PIA calculator (based on a percent of your PIA) and survivor-benefit modeling. The survivor model here is simplified - see notes below.

Social Security - couple view, spouse PIA auto-calc, and survivor modeling

This section computes each spouse's monthly benefit at chosen claim ages using SSA reduction & delayed-credit rules. It also models survivor benefit under a simplified rule: survivor receives the larger of (1) their own benefit at their claim age or (2) the deceased spouse's benefit that the deceased was receiving at death. (This is how survivor benefits often work in practice, but SSA rules have additional details - see caveats below.)

Your data (primary) Birth year:   PIA (monthly at FRA): $
Your FRA is derived from birth year; change PIA if you have the exact number from SSA.
Spouse data (wife) Birth year:    
Spouse PIA (editable): $
If you know your wife's actual PIA, overwrite this value. Otherwise use the auto-calc percent and click Apply % to set it.
Claim age choices to compare Claim age (scenario A) - you & spouse: Claim age (scenario B) - you & spouse:  

Survivor modeling inputs (custom scenario)

Use the form below to model a death event and see the survivor benefit under the simplified rule.

Death event Who dies?
Age at death (of deceased):  Age at which survivor will claim (if not already claiming):  

The survivor modeling here gives you a fast way to compare how much the surviving spouse might receive using the common rule-of-thumb that survivors receive the deceased's benefit if it's larger than their own. For legally exact answers and details like family maximums, offsets, and month-level SSA rules, consult SSA or your financial