My husband died 3 years ago and before I turned 60 I called social security about receiving widows benefits. I was told that if I made more than 18 000 a year I couldn't. Is this true?? I also have a friend in the same situation.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

It doesn't sound like Social Security gave you the full story. If you file for widow's benefits this year and you're under your full retirement age (FRA) all year, Social Security would need to withhold $1 of your current year benefits for each $2 that your 2020 earnings exceed $18,240. Whether or not that would cause all of your benefits to be withheld depends on your benefit rate and how much you'll be earning.

It sounds like your best strategy for claiming benefits would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits at age 60 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 at age 62 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced widow's benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help sort all of this out for you so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry