Do I have the 6 month retroactive payment option when switching from a widows benefit to my own benefit at age 70.

Hi,

If you are nearing age 70 and you apply for retirement benefits on your own record, you have the option to claim benefits up to 6 retroactively. However, you can't receive both your full widow's benefits and your retirement benefits for the same month. So, assuming that your retirement rate is higher than the widow's rate you currently receive, if you claim 6 months of retroactivity, Social Security would only pay you the difference in the 2 rates for the retroactive period. In other words, you would only be due your higher retirement rate for those months, and no widow's benefits. You would also lose out on the delayed retirement credits that you would have earned for those months, so it sounds unlikely that this is something that you would want to do. You may want to run the maximization software available on this website to make sure that you choose the best option.

Best, Jerry