5 Financial Challenges to Navigate After a Spouse’s Death

Chris Gash Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

In May 2022, a few weeks before Angela Ryan, a nurse in Chatham, New Jersey, was going to celebrate her retirement, her husband, Tom, died suddenly at the age of 63. “My grief was physically

painful,” Ryan remembers.

The couple had begun meeting about an estate plan, but Ryan was still left with a deluge of financial tasks, including transferring accounts and sorting out Social Security options. “It was

overwhelming to deal with, especially when you’re grieving,” says Ryan, now 66.

On top of the emotional trauma, many surviving spouses must also cope with financial losses. Women who are widowed — ­in the U.S., 75 percent of bereaved spouses are women — experience

an average individual income drop of 11 percent annually, according to a 2020 report published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. All too often, the financial setbacks of widowhood are

unexpected. Some 41 percent of widows say they had not engaged in any financial planning before their spouse’s death, according to a 2024 Thrivent survey.

If you’re facing a financial crunch after your partner’s death, it’s important to avoid rushing into major decisions; panic is not a good incubator for sound money choices. “Take a deep

breath, then break down the tasks one by one,” says Cindy Hounsell, president of the nonprofit Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement. To help you sort through what is already a trying

time, here are some tips for overcoming the financial challenges of widowhood.

When a Social Security beneficiary dies, their retirement benefit ends. So if both spouses were collecting monthly payments, one of those streams will dry up.

If you’re the widowed spouse, however, you might be able to receive a survivor benefit that’s higher than your own benefit. (Note that the longer a person waits to claim Social Security, up

until age 70, the larger the potential survivor benefit that person will leave for a surviving spouse with lower earnings.)

This survivor payment, unfortunately, is unlikely to match your previous income if both you and your spouse were receiving benefits. And if you claim survivor benefits before reaching Social

Security’s full retirement age (FRA) — 67 for those born in 1960 or later — the monthly benefit will be reduced.

To be eligible for survivor benefits at all, the surviving spouse must be 60 or older, married to the deceased for at least nine months before the time of death, and not remarried before age

60, though there are some exceptions. Survivors who are disabled may qualify at age 50. If you are caring for children from the marriage who are under 16 or disabled, you may be eligible at

any age for the benefit.