Q. Both my husband and I are in the early 70s. My husband worked for many years overseas, not associated with Social Security. If my husband pre-deceases me, will I be entitled to a survivor benefit greater than his current Social Security payment, or will my survivor benefit be equal to his current benefit?. My SS benefit is greater than his benefit now. Additional question: If I pre-decease my husband, will he be eligible for a survivor benefit based on my current SS benefit, which is larger than his current SS benefit?

A. If your husband pre-deceases you, you will only be entitled to the SS benefit he is now receiving. Since your SS benefit exceeds his, you will not be entitled to a survivor benefit because you are only eligible for whichever SS benefit is higher, your SS benefit based on your work record, or the SS benefit your husband is receiving at the time of his passing. If you pre-decease your spouse, he would only be eligible for 1/3 of your SS benefit because the Government Pension Offset (GPO) reduces his survivor benefit by 2/3 of the pension he receives for work done outside Social Security.

Q. I am 65 and plan on waiting until 70 to receive my Social security benefit, because the benefit increases 8% per year after I reach my full retirement age. But I understand that the Social Security fund is underfunded and has to cut benefits by 2033. Won’t I better off taking my benefit at 67, and be assured I will receive benefits that won’t be reduced? Many members of Congress want to reduce benefits. Isn’t it likely Congress will eliminate the age 70 bonus before 2033?.

A. You raise some excellent questions. Unfortunately, no one knows whether Congress will finally propose some solutions to the expected shortfall expected. Congress typically waits until the last minute to solve problems. Regardless of which party wins the November election, no one can predict what legislation can be passed to solve the shortfall problem.

As I am sure you know, there is little cooperation now between the two major parties, so it is almost impossible to predict what action Congress will take regardless of the outcome of the November election. The bottom line is that I don’t believe anyone can tell you with any degree of certainty whether an individual should file for their SS benefits as soon as possible because of the likelihood that SS benefits will be reduced in the near future. Even if benefits are reduced, its likely that all benefits would be reduced, not only the age 70 bonus.

Q. My spouse died in 2024. He had been taking required minimum distributions for many years. I am the only beneficiary of his IRA, which is approximately $200,000. He is several years older than I am, and I will not be required to take required minimum distributions from my account for three years. I understand that I have the option of adding the account I inherited to my IRA account, which is much smaller in value. Which option makes the most sense?.

A. The answer depends on whether you need access to the inheritance now. If you roll over the inheritance to your account, you are postponing the required minimum distribution (RMD) until you reach your required beginning date, which is three years from now. If you don’t roll over the inheritance to your account, and use the 10-year rule, you will be required to start taking RMDs next year in 2025 because he had already been taking RMDs. in addition, you would have to withdraw all the funds in the account by the end of 10 years. If you roll over the inheritance to your account, you will be able to withdraw RMDs from your account over your life expectancy, which will be longer than 10 years. My recommendation is to roll over the inheritance to your IRA if you don’t need access to the funds right away. The account will grow in value over your lifetime, which is greater than 10 years.

Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions and comments at raphelliot@gmail.com.