Key Takeaways
- Nikki Haley said on Bloomberg Talks this week that Social Security “will go bankrupt in five years.” The 2026 Trustees Report projects that the trust fund for retirees and survivors runs out in the fourth quarter of 2032, and that incoming money would still pay 78% of scheduled benefits after that.
- A widow can claim survivor benefits as early as 60, but the benefit is cut by 28.5% of her late spouse’s full benefit.
- A 60-year-old widow whose late husband’s full benefit was $2,500 a month would get $1,787.50 a month by claiming now. That’s $8,550 a year less than the $2,500 a month she’d get at full retirement age.
- Claiming early doesn’t protect her from a future cut, so needing the money now is the main reason to do it.
If you’ve lost a spouse and you’re anywhere near 60, Nikki Haley’s latest warning about Social Security may have hit close to home.
On Bloomberg Talks this week, Haley described the Republican Party she thinks can win. Haley is the Hudson Institute’s Walter P. Stern Chair and a former U.N. ambassador. She said that party “leads with fiscal responsibility” and “acknowledges Social Security will go bankrupt in five years.”
When you hear that, the instinct is to grab your survivor checks while they’re still there. I get it. But claiming early has a cost that’s already in the rules today, and for a widow it can run into thousands of dollars a year.
6 safe dividend stocks paying retirees 6%+ yields
There are over 100 stocks paying 6%+ annual dividends today.
But after an extensive investment review leveraging TIKR’s proprietary data, we now believe only six of them are truly safe for retirees.
They’re all yours for free as part of our new investment report, which you can access right here.
A 28.5% cut for claiming at 60
Let’s take a hypothetical 60-year-old widow whose late husband’s full benefit was $2,500 a month. Say he died before he’d started collecting, and her own work record pays less than his did. That makes the survivor benefit the bigger check for her.
Social Security lets her claim survivor benefits as early as 60. If she waits until her full retirement age, she gets 100% of her husband’s full benefit, or $2,500 a month. If she claims at 60, though, the benefit is cut by 28.5% of that amount, which is the biggest reduction allowed.
For her, 28.5% of $2,500 is $712.50, so claiming now pays her $1,787.50 a month. That’s $712.50 a month less than she’d get by waiting, or $8,550 a year. The cut also stays with her after full retirement age. At that point Social Security only adjusts a reduced benefit to give credit for checks it held back because she earned too much.
Claiming early doesn’t get her ahead of a cut
Social Security’s trustees publish a projection every year. The 2026 Trustees Report projects that the trust fund paying retirees and survivors runs out of reserves in the fourth quarter of 2032, about six years from now. Even then, the money still coming in would cover 78% of scheduled benefits. The report expects that share to fall gradually to 62% by 2100.
That’s a real shortfall, and Congress will have to deal with it. But it’s a projection, and no law on the books today cuts anyone’s check. The report also doesn’t say how a shortfall would be split up: its 78% is a share of all scheduled benefits.
My read: claiming at 60 wouldn’t protect our widow’s check from whatever Congress eventually does. If she claims early out of fear, she takes a sure 28.5% cut today to avoid a cut that may never come, and one she might not avoid anyway.
When claiming at 60 still makes sense
Claiming at 60 isn’t always a mistake. A widow who needs the income now, or who has good reason to doubt she’ll be collecting for decades, can be better off taking smaller checks sooner.
If she’s still working, though, Social Security’s earnings test can withhold whole checks, starting in January, once her pay goes over the year’s limit. There’s also nothing to gain by waiting past full retirement age, since a survivor’s benefit is highest then. And if she’s already filed and regrets it, Social Security lets her withdraw the claim in writing, as long as she pays back everything she received.
Frankly, if you need the money at 60, take it. But if a politician’s countdown is the only reason, that’s $8,550 a year to give up over a shortfall Congress still has years to fix. The trustees’ next report comes out next year and will show whether that 2032 date has moved.
Enjoy your retirement in style with these safe 6%+ dividend yields
Dividends can hold the key to enormous wealth. But only if you buy the right ones.
Picking the right high-yield dividend stock can be the difference between a dream retirement…and scraping by every month, waiting for the next Social Security check to clear.
We’ve identified six stocks yielding 6%+ that we believe every retiree should know about right now.
Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
