Thousands of widows and widowers were underpaid Social Security benefits after a mistake by the Social Security Administration, costing surviving spouses more than $50 million combined, according to a new federal watchdog report.

I just read your answer to the reader about his Social Security benefits (“I always did the graveyard shift: I worked for 54 years. Why on earth would I wait to claim Social Security at 70?”). It was a nuanced response.