MY husband died in December 2009. He was 49. He had collected Social Security disability for a few years when he died. I am 62, will be 63 in January and work full time. I need to know if I can collect spousal benefits and continue to work or if I earn too much to benefit. My current salary is around 70,000 annually at present

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

You're probably earning too much to currently be eligible for any benefits, but it's possible that you could be due a small amount if your potential benefit rate is very high. You should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to determine your precise best strategy for claiming your benefits.

It sounds like your best strategy would likely be one of the following;
1) File for reduced widow's benefits now or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record now or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced widow's benefits at full retirement age (FRA). However, if your deceased spouse received reduced Social Security retirement benefits prior to his death then you would likely want to file for your widow's benefits earlier than FRA.

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher record when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our software could sort all of this out for you and help you determine your optimal strategy.

Best, Jerry