I plan to file for widow benefits first when i reach my full FRA. I was born in June 1956. I will be 66 in June of 2022. My full FRA for my benefits is 66 and 4 months. Is it true i can file for widow benefit and star receiving benefits at age 66 (4 months earlier) without the penalty of having $1 deduct if i make over 18,960. I plan to keep working until 67 - 68. I don't want to loss 4 months of benefits if they are available without penalty.
if i make let's say 18k from June - Oct 2022 will that be considered the only earnings that apply for the 4 months and in that case i would not be penalized. As i said i plan to keep working for the rest of the year of 2022 and probably thru 2023. At 70 switch to my benefits.
Thank you!

Hi. Not exactly. It's true that if you were born in 1956 your full retirement age (FRA) for widow's benefits would be age 66, not the FRA of 66 & 4 months that would apply for retirement benefits. That quirk in the law is due to the fact that Congress amended the FRA for widow's benefits later than when they amended the FRA for retirement benefits. However, the controlling FRA for Social Security earnings test purposes is your FRA for retirement benefits, even if you're applying for widow's benefits. In other words, if you file for widow's benefits effective with the month you reach age 66 your widow's rate would not be reduced for age, but your benefits could still potentially be withheld due to the earnings test until the month you reach age 66 & 4 months.

The amount cited in your question (i.e. $18,960) is the current earnings test exempt amount for people who will be under FRA throughout 2021. But, there is a separate, higher, exempt amount of earnings for people who reach FRA prior to the end of the year. For people turning FRA in 2021 the exempt amount is $50,520, and only their earnings in the months prior to when they reach FRA for retirement benefit purposes count toward the limit. The exempt amount that will apply to you in 2022 will depend on the month that you reach age 66 & 4 months.

What I can tell you is that if your own Social Security retirement benefit rate at age 70 would be higher than your unreduced widow's rate, your optimal filing strategy would almost certainly be to file for widow's benefits as soon as your earnings would permit payment of at least some benefits even if it results in a reduced widow's rate. Any such reduction would be moot once you switch to your own benefits at age 70, so the goal would be to collect the maximum total amount of widow's benefits possible prior to switching to your own record.

I can't tell you what your optimal filing strategy might be without knowing your unreduced widow's rate, your own primary insurance amount (PIA), your month and year of birth, and your expected earnings this year and next year, but our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could easily sort all of this out for you and help you identify the filing strategy that would be the most likely to maximize your benefits.

Best, Jerry