Hello; My husband was receiving ss disability for 6 years before his death at age 64 with a benefit of $2480 per month before taxes. I am 58 years old and understand I cannot get survivor benefits until age 60 and then at a reduced rate. I will probably begin them at age 60 as I will need that income. Will his being on disability affect my survivor benefits? Also will his benefit amount increase after his death as I have another 16 months after his death before I can claim his benefits. Is there a better strategy you can see for my situation? I have a work history but no where near his benefit. His birth year was 1956.

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. The fact that your husband collected Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits prior to his death won't adversely affect your widow's rate at all. It sounds like your unreduced widow's rate would be equal to your husband's full rate, including all cost of living (COLA) increases occurring after his death. But, to get an unreduced widow's rate you'd have to wait until your full retirement age (FRA) to start drawing the widow's benefits.

So in other words, if you don't start drawing widow's benefit until FRA it sounds like you'd qualify for the full amount that your husband would have been receiving if he was still alive when you start drawing. If you start drawing your widow's benefits when you turn age 60 instead, your rate will be reduced for age by 28.5%. And, that reduction will be permanent unless any of your benefits are withheld because you work and earn too much to be able to collect all of your benefits. The only way that you could qualify for widow's benefits before age 60 is if you're disabled.

If your own Social Security retirement benefit rate would be substantially less than your widow's rate, your optimal strategy would likely be to draw your own benefit from age 62 until FRA, and then file for unreduced widow's benefits starting at FRA. You may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare all of your various options so that you can decide for yourself which filing strategy would best fit your needs.

Best, Jerry