How 4 people can get SS til death based on 1 person's social security wages.

[SheilaT]

1. I'm well aware of this little bit in SS information.

If my ex dies before me, I'll be collecting off his benefit, not my own.

See, I stayed home for twenty-five years to raise our two children. Being out of the work force for so long definitely impacts what my own SS will be.

In reality, those collecting multiple benefits are a small percentage of those collecting. And there was a time when if an older couple married, the woman could no longer collect from her deceased husbands SS. Back in the day when many more women stayed home most of their adult life, that was a huge problem. I can recall reading in the 60's and 70's about older couples who simply lived together even though they'd much rather be legally married, because of what would be given up. And I think there was a time when there was no widow's benefit at all, once the male wage-earner died. No wonder elderly widows lived with grown children in the good old days.