My husband passed away 4/2018. I am going to wait until full retirement age, 66 & 2 months to collect his maximum benefit. I am currently 63. Can I collect my own SS benefit now and then switch to his at full retirement Age? I need his higher amount at retirement and don't want to jeopardize losing that option. Thank you.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

You couldn't switch to drawing just widow's benefits after you've started drawing your own benefits, but you can file for your own benefits now and then file for unreduced widow's benefits at your full retirement age (FRA). The net effect would be the same if your widow's rate is higher than your own rate, though, because once you filed for the widow's benefit at FRA your combined benefit rate would be equal to your higher widow's rate.

For example, say you filed for your own benefits at age 63 and were due $1000 monthly. If your unreduced widow's rate was $2000 for example, you could then file for widow's benefits at FRA and be paid your own $1000 plus a partial widow's rate of $1000 (i.e. the difference in the 2 rates), giving you a combined benefit rate equal to the full higher widow's rate.

However, if you're still working then at least some of your benefits might need to be withheld until you reach FRA. In 2020, you can earn up to $18,240 without losing any benefits, but Social Security would need to withhold $1 for each $2 you earn in excess of that amount.

It sounds like your best strategy for claiming benefits 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 husband received reduced Social Security retirement benefits prior to his death then it would almost certainly be better to file for your widow's benefits at some point prior to 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 (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could sort all of this out for you and help you determine your optimal filing strategy.

Best, Jerry