Larry, I am a 64 year old woman (born 12/1952) who was widowed 19 months ago. I began taking social security benefits on my own record at age 62. My late husband (born 02/1937) began taking social security benefits at age 70. When I called SSA to inquire about my options, they told me that I could continue to take benefits on my own record, and then switch to survivor benefits at age 66. If I choose this option, they told me that my total survivor benefits would equal the amount that my late husband WOULD HAVE received, had he taken his benefits at age 65 or 66. That is, I could not receive the amount that he was receiving, having postponed taking benefits until he reached age 70. I have received a number of conflicting interpretations in addition to this one, and wish I could get a definitive analysis. By the way, had I waited until age 70 to collect benefits on my own record, the total amount would be approximately equal to the amount of his age-66 benefits, so I have still benefitted by beginning to take social security on my own record at age 62.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

If your husband waited until age 70 to start drawing his benefits, you should get his full age 70 rate if you file for widow's benefits at age 66. If necessary, you can point out this section of the Social Security operations manual to the person who takes your claim: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300615702.

Just to be clear, you won't receive your own retirement rate plus your husband's full age 70 rate, you'll just receive the higher of the two.

Best, Jerry