I am currently 58 and I am wondering if I should begin to collect my deceased husband's social security at age 60 or wait until 67 and collect my own. Currently mine is 1,657 if I take it at age 67 or 1,155 at age 62. His is currently 1,517 at full retirement. Can I collect his at age 60 then switch to my own at age 62 or 67? Thank you!

Hi. You could certainly apply for widow's benefits at age 60 and then switch to your own higher benefit rate at age 62 or 67, but it would probably be smarter to wait until you reach age 70 to switch to your own benefits. Your own Social Security retirement benefit rate would be 24% higher at age 70 than it would be at age 67, and roughly 76% higher than if you started it at age 62.

You don't mention whether or not you plan to work between age 60 and age 67, but if you do work then your benefits may need to be fully or partially withheld if you earn too much (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html).

You may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry