Ask Larry

Is It Possible To Take My Social Security At Age 62 And Then Take My Husband's SS At Age 65?

I am widowed and will be 62 in September. I plan to take my social security in September and then take my husbands at 65. Is this possible?

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. The answer to your question is yes, but I don't have enough information to be able to tell you whether or not your plan is a good one. Depending on your relative benefit rates and whether or not you'll be working, your best filing strategy is almost certainly one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits at 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 at age 62 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 collected reduced Social Security retirement benefits prior to his death then you'd likely want to claim your widow's benefits at some point prior to when you reach FRA.

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help sort all of this out for you so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry

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Posted: 
Jul 20 2021 - 1:09pm
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