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Janice’s husband died suddenly last year after having a stroke. The couple were a few years away from retirement. Janice, 62, was waiting to claim Social Security at 65 when she’d also be eligible for Medicare benefits.

Her late husband made more money over the course of his career, so he would have received a bigger Social Security retirement benefit. Now she’s wondering if she can collect both his retirement benefit and her own at the same time.

The short answer is no. But here’s a more detailed look at what Social Security benefits you are entitled to after your spouse dies.

The main types of Social Security payments are retirement, disability and survivor benefits.

Retirement benefits include both retired-worker benefits and spousal benefits. A married couple of retirement age is eligible for two checks from the Social Security Administration (SSA):

• either two retired-worker benefits if both partners worked, or

• one retired-worker benefit and one spousal benefit for the spouse who doesn’t have a retired-worker benefit

A spousal benefit can be as much as 50% of a retired worker’s Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is the monthly benefit they are entitled to at full retirement age. If their working spouse passes away, the spousal benefit may be replaced by survivor benefits.

If you’re a surviving spouse, like Janice, you can claim either your retired-worker benefit or your late spouse’s, whichever is higher.

According to The National Academy of Social Insurance, this may substantially lower a surviving spouse’s income, as they’re only receiving one monthly benefit rather than the two they could have collected if their spouse were alive.

The amount Janice receives will be based on her late husband’s work record and whether he reached full retirement age, typically between 66 and 67 years of age.

If a surviving spouse is already receiving benefits based on their own work record, they should contact the SSA to find out if they can get more money from collecting survivor benefits.

About 5.8 million Americans received Social Security survivor benefits in July, with an average monthly benefit of $1,574.28, according to the SSA.

You may be eligible for survivor benefits if you’re the spouse, ex-spouse or child of someone who worked and paid Social Security taxes before they died. Generally, to be eligible, you must be 60 or older, or at least 50 years old with a disability that occurred within seven years of your spouse’s death.

In some cases, age doesn’t matter. If you care for children from the marriage who have a disability or are under 16, you can also apply for survivor benefits regardless of age.

Another factor is your current marital status. If you remarry before the age of 60 (or 50 if you have a disability), you’re no longer eligible for survivor benefits. Remarrying after age 60 won’t impact your eligibility.

Since Janice isn’t ready to retire, she can keep working while she receives her survivor benefit prior to reaching full retirement age, but her benefit could be reduced if she goes over her earnings limit, which was $23,400 for 2025.

If your spouse passes away, you should contact the SSA right away. You’ll receive a $255 lump sum death payment, and you can also discuss your options for next steps. For example, you might start with survivor benefits and then switch to your retired-worker benefit at age 70, if that payment is the highest.

There are a lot of factors to consider, so it could be worth sitting down with a professional financial advisor to crunch the numbers.

Advisor.com can help connect you with a financial advisor suited to your needs and based in your area. All of their advisors are pre-vetted fiduciaries, meaning that they have a legal obligation to act in your best interest.

After inputting your ZIP code to get matched with a nearby financial professional, you can set up a free call with no obligation to hire to make sure they’re a good fit for you.

The average Social Security benefit was $1,863.12 in July.  According to a 2024 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average monthly expenditures for American consumers was $6,440.

Unfortunately, that means there is often a disparity in what one receives as benefits and what they need to survive. This is where having a solid nest egg for retirement can come in handy.

Having a robust investment portfolio can help reduce your reliance on Social Security in retirement. Alternative assets can also help protect you from inflation and stock market volatility.

For example, FNRP allows accredited individual investors with a minimum investment of $50,000 to access institutional-quality commercial real estate investments — without the legwork of finding deals themselves.

FNRP has relationships with the nation’s largest essential-needs brands, such as Kroger, Walmart and Whole Foods. And since these retailers provide necessities, they tend to still perform well during times of economic volatility and can act as a hedge against inflation.

You can engage with experts, explore available deals and easily make an allocation, all in FNRP’s personalized portal.

Then there’s art. According to a survey from UBS, over 85% of high-net-worth investors say art is a relatively safe investment, suggesting it could be reliable for your retirement.

While the wealthiest of these ultra-wealthy respondents allocated as much as 25% of their portfolios in 2025 towards art, everyday investors are also investing alongside them with Masterworks.

This art investing platform has already distributed back over $60 million in total proceeds, including the principal, to investors. Across 23 exits, Masterworks investors have realized representative annualized net returns that include +17.6%, +17.8% and +21.5% among assets held for longer than one year. Get priority access and see if you can skip the waitlist here.

See important Regulation A disclosures at Masterworks.com/cd.

Gold is another alternative asset that has outperformed the stock market in recent years. From 2020 to 2024, the spot price of gold had greater annual returns than the S&P 500.

One way to invest in rare precious metal that also provides significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of Thor Metals.

Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an attractive option for those looking to potentially hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.

To learn more, you can check out Thor Metals’ free information guide that includes details on how to get up to $20,000 in free metals on qualifying purchases.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.