I was widowed at 58 and had been married to my blue water navy veteran for almost 38 years No veteran benefits. I started drawing my husband's benefits at 60.because I was depressed and could not go back.to work..I get 71.5 per cent and I draw 1281 a month.and 147 is taken out before I get my check

I am.69 worked for tears but my ss is about a hundred less than his so will continue to draw his..what happens to miney i paid in and the other 28.5 per cent of his that I will never fet a penny of...the government sure makes out good in a widow in my predicament..every three months I pay 800 for two medicines and struggle..no help.anywhere and no savings..husband was disabled at 49..is there anyway I could draw more ss or the government just keeps the money I paid in. Riduculous

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

I wish that I had something helpful to tell you, but I don't. If a person qualifies for more than one type of Social Security benefit, they can only be paid the higher of the two benefit rates. If you started drawing your widow's benefits at age 60 then the resulting 28.5% reduction for age applied to your benefit rate is permanent. So, unless your own benefit rate would be higher than your widow's rate, you're probably stuck with the amount you're receiving.

I should mention, though, that your own benefit rate could continue to accrue delayed retirement credits (DRC) until you reach age 70, so you should check back with Social Security when you get close to age 70 to see if your own rate may have increased to more than your widow's rate by that time.

As far as what happens to the money you contributed to Social Security when you were working, those taxes go into Social Security's trust fund. All Social Security benefits are paid from the trust fund, and there's no other way to receive money from the trust fund unless you qualify for benefits. If a person doesn't qualify for benefits, the tax money they paid into Social Security simply remains in the trust fund until its needed to pay benefits to people who do qualify for benefits.

Best, Jerry