I'm turning 65 in August my husband is dead do I get more money?

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

You can't get both your own Social Security retirement benefit and a full survivor benefit at the same time. If you file for both you can only be paid the higher of the two benefit rates. However, you could potentially file for one type of benefit first, then file for the other benefit later.

For example, you could potentially file for survivor benefits now and then wait until age 70 to file for your own Social Security retirement benefits. Or, you could file for your own benefits now and then file for unreduced survivor benefits at your full retirement age (FRA). You'd never want to wait past FRA to file for survivor benefits because those benefits don't get any higher if you wait past FRA to claim them.

Normally, the best strategy would be 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 this out for you and help you determine your optimal filing strategy.

Best, Jerry