At age 70, you'll get 132 percent of your monthly benefit because you delayed getting benefits for 48 months.
“We did not find any evidence SSA had informed claimants of the option to delay their retirement application when they applied for benefits, as required,” the OIG audit stated. “We also found that SSA did not have systems controls in place to alert its employees when they should inform [widows] of their option to delay their applications for retirement benefits.”
SSA employees must explain the advantages and disadvantages of filing an application so claimants can make an informed filing decision. At the same time, SSA employees are required to discuss and document any unfavorable filing decisions. “We identified 13,564 beneficiaries in current pay who were dually entitled to [widows] and retirement benefits before age 70,” but could have increased benefits by delaying.
In addition to taking action on the beneficiaries identified by the audit, the OIG recommended that the Social Security Administration:
*Remind employees to discuss with widow claimants the effect of delaying their applications for retirement benefits and document the facts and decisions in accordance with SSA policy.
*Determine whether it should develop additional controls to ensure it informs widowed beneficiaries of their option to delay their application for retirement benefits.
A summary of the SS report is available here: https://oig.ssa.gov/sites/default/files/audit/summary/pdf/A-09-18-50559_summary.pdf