The widow's penalty can reduce your Social Security income after a spouse dies. Learn how this works, why it happens, and ...

Today’s column involves a husband and wife, both of whom were getting Social Security benefits — and the husband dies.

I continually remind my readers that they shouldn't worry too much when they read or hear reports of Social Security's ...

Congress must have heard women complaining that having to be married to some philandering jerk for 20 years to get some of his Social Security was too long. So this year, they lowered the length of ...

Losing a spouse is emotionally overwhelming, and the financial decisions that follow can feel just as heavy. The rules regarding Social Security survivor benefits may be confusing for some, and many ...

A new bill in Congress, the SWIFT Act, aims to increase Social Security survivor benefits for widows, widowers, and surviving ...

If a person who was getting Social Security benefits dies, but doesn’t have a spouse, then someone needs to notify the SSA of the death and follow the rules explained above about returning the last ...

When a spouse dies, the emotional shock often collides with an immediate financial question: what happens to the Social Security income that helped pay the bills. Survivor rules are technical, but ...

Every couple of years, I like to cover a topic that confuses almost everyone. And that confusion comes at a time when they have so many other things on their minds. I'm talking about handling the ...

I continually remind my readers that they shouldn't worry too much when they read or hear reports of Social Security's ...

Though average Social Security payouts are meaningfully increasing in the new year, most beneficiaries remain worse for the wear.

Workers who claim benefits at the earliest eligible age of 62 can receive up to $2,831 per month. Those who wait until full ...