Hi Larry, I worked for USPS from Aug1996 to Dec. 2016. I was approved and went out on retirement disability because of injury on the job, I continue to accept OWCP in lieu of my disability retirement. My husband of 22 years passed in April of 2017 at the age of 67. He retired in 2011 at age 62 after being on his job for 43yrs. At the time of his death he was receiving his pension and Social Security due to several strokes that left him paralyzed (in 2013). I will be 54 in Sept of 2019. My husband was 16yrs my senior. What am I entitled to at this time, and how can I maximize my benefits.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

Assuming that you don't have a child in your care who is eligible for Social Security child's benefits, the only way that you could be eligible for benefits prior to age 60 is if you qualify for Social Security disability benefits. If you paid Social Security taxes on your wages at the USPS, you could potentially qualify for either Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits based on your own earnings record, or disabled widow's benefits (DWB) based on your husband's record.

In order to qualify for either SSDI or DWB (or both), Social Security would need to determine that you meet their definition of being disabled. Basically, that would require them to find that you are unable to do any type of substantial gainful work. If you aren't disabled by Social Security's definition, the earliest that you could claim widow's benefits is at age 60, and the earliest that you could claim Social Security retirement benefits is age 62.

If you meet Social Security's disability requirement, your best strategy would likely be to claim SSDI as soon as possible. And, if your husband's primary insurance amount is higher than yours, you would probably also want to claim DWB starting with the same month that you become entitled to SSDI benefits, if possible. But, if you can't qualify for disability benefits, your best strategy is likely one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits at age 60, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits at age 62, then file for widow's benefits when those benefits reach their highest possible rate. That could be as early as around age 62 & 9 months or as late as your full retirement age of 67 depending on whether or not your husband drew reduced Social Security retirement benefits prior to his death.

Normally in the case of non-disability benefits, 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 maximization software could sort all of this out for you and help you determine your optimal strategy.

Best, Jerry