I have read through a lot of the social security rules and statues but my situation is still unclear according to what I've read. I need your help. I became a widow at age 39 in 1998. My husband was 49 when he passed with terminal cancer and had been receiving social security. He qualified for a medical retirement with his job of 25 years and we received his full pension 7 months before his passing. The social security continued for our children until they dropped off at age 18. Today, I am 58 and divorced from a second marriage that ended in 2015, after being married for 15 years. This spouse has been on disability himself for 25 years and moved out of the country. My questions are: At age 60, I can apply for survivor benefits on my deceased spouse but will the amount be based on the time he passed or the increases over time? Can I claim both benefits at the age appropriated times or just one? I'm pretty sure I'm going to apply in 16 months for my survivor benefits and therefore can I continue to work my full-time job ($24,000 a year)? How would my benefit be calculated if my late husband was retired prior age 65 and if he were alive today he would be 68? I hope I made sense to what I needed cleared up. Thank you....

Hi,

Yes, it sounds like you would qualify for widow's benefits on your first husband's record at age 60, but your benefit rate will be reduced for age if you start drawing before full retirement age. And, if you earn more than the amount allowed under Social Security's earnings test prior to reaching full retirement age, at least some of your benefits could be withheld (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html). The higher of two different calculation methods will be used to calculate your widow's rate, and both methods account for increases in average wages or the cost of living that have occurred since your husband's death. The actual formulas involved are much too complex for me to try to explain in this forum (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300615302).

I'm not sure what you're asking with your second question, but if you're entitled to more than one type of benefit at the same time you can only receive the higher rate, not both. You could, however, file at different times for different types of benefits (e.g. retirement, widow's).

Your best strategy is likely one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits at age 60 or as soon as your earnings will permit benefits to be paid, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record at age 62 or as soon as your earnings will permit benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced widow's benefits at full retirement age.

And, in your case there may also be divorced spousal benefits on your second husband's record to be factored in. Our maximization software can help you determine which filing strategy is best in your case, as well as when to apply for each type of benefit.

Best, Jerry