My husband passed away Dec 26, 2019. He was 58, I will be 65 this April. I am not ready to retire yet but everyone I know seems to think that I am eligible for survivor benefits, however, when I went to our local SS office I was told that unless I made $18,000 or less a year I am not eligible. Thank you.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

It sounds like what you were told by Social Security isn't the full story. First off, the Social Security earnings test exempt amount for people who won't reach full retirement age (FRA) until after 2020 is $18,240. And, if you earn more than that it doesn't necessarily mean that you couldn't draw at least some benefits, it just means Social Security would need to withhold $1 of your benefits for every $2 that you earn in excess of $18,240 this year.

Therefore, whether or not you could be paid any benefits if you applied this year depends on how much you will earn as well as your potential benefit rate. Even if you couldn't be paid any benefits this year due to your earnings, though, since you will reach FRA next year you could at least be paid starting with the month you reach FRA. And, since a higher earnings test exempt amount applies in the year that a person reaches FRA and because Social Security only counts earnings in months prior to FRA, there's a good chance that you could qualify to be paid benefits even sooner than the month you reach FRA next year (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html).

It sounds like your best filing strategy would almost certainly be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits 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 now or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced widow's benefits at your full retirement age (FRA).

Normally, you would want 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 all of this out for you and help you determine your optimal filing strategy.

Best, Jerry