I started drawing survivor social security benefit on November 1, 2015, with my last day on the job being Oct 31, 2015 (I was a few month older than 60 years old). About a year later, in December of 2016 I applied for SSDI and was awarded SSDI benefits on my own SS record with the onset of my disability as also being determined as November 1, 2015 (my first payment for SSDI though was for the month of April of 2016, which is 5 months after the onset date of my disability). Social Security office recently informed me that based on CDR review they have determined that I am no longer disabled with my last disabilty payment to be made when I am roughly 64 years old. After that point -- can I switch back to my survivor social security benefit and wait until I am 70 years old to start drawing my own larger social security payments at increased rate (because of DRC)? Will I also get any "credits" in survivor benefit payments paid to to age 70 because prior to the survivor benefit restart -- I only received them for 5 month after my last day on the job (as they were replaced by SSDI)?

Hi,

Yes, if your Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits are terminated due to medical improvement, then you can resume drawing survivor benefits starting with the month that your SSDI benefits stop. Your survivor benefits may have just been suspended when your SSDI started, in which case your survivor benefits should resume automatically when your SSDI stops. But, if your survivor benefits were terminated when your SSDI benefits started, then you'd need to file a new application to restart your benefits. You should contact Social Security to check on the status of your survivor benefits and whether or not you need to reapply for benefits.

And, yes, your survivor benefit rate will be adjusted to only reduce your benefit rate for the months that you're actually paid survivor benefits prior to your full retirement age (FRA).

Since your SSDI benefits will be terminated prior to your FRA, then you could draw survivor benefits and delay claiming your own Social Security retirement benefits until age 70. That may well be your best strategy, but you might want to use our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to be sure.

Best, Jerry