Hi Larry. If my husband reaches full retirement age and takes his social security, but continues to work for 2 years, how will that affect survivor benefits? Are they based on his full retirement amount when he first took benefits, or the amount he was receiving after working an additional 2 years? I plan to file for child in care benefits since I care for my adult disabled son who was disabled prior to age 22. There is a 15 year age difference between my husband and myself so we want to maximize the survivor benefit down the line because I will not be able to work. Thank you so much Larry. You are always so helpful.

Hi. As a widow you could potentially be eligible for as much as your husband's full benefit amount, inclusive of any increases in his benefit rate that occur after he reaches full retirement age (FRA). Any benefit rate increase that your husband receives by working after FRA would also increase your disabled child's potential auxiliary and survivor rate, as well as your potential child in care spousal rate.

To make you eligible for your highest possible widow's rate, though, your husband would need to wait until age 70 to start drawing his benefits. Widow's benefits are calculated inclusive of any delayed retirement credits (DRC) that the deceased worker accrued by waiting past FRA to start drawing their Social Security retirement benefits. However, since you and your disabled child can't start collecting auxiliary benefits from your husband's account until he starts drawing his benefits, waiting until age 70 may not be the best overall option for maximizing benefits in your family's case.

The best overall filing strategy for your family depends on a number of different factors, so you and your husband should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your various options so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry