I will be 65 in August of this year. My second husband passed away after 8 years of marriage. I have been receiving widows benefits since I was 60. I'm still working so it has been only 3 or 4 payments a year. I was told it wouldn't make any difference in my SS benefits if I took the widow's benefits and could stay on them as long as I wanted to. I plan to retire at age 65 and continue with the survivor's benefits and then switch to my own social security at my full retirement age of 66 yrs and 2 mos. I am divorced from my first husband of 17 years. He is remarried. I was told I would be eligible for his social only If he passed away and could switch to his in that event. If I haven't acted wisely so far, is there anything I should consider changing in my plans going forward?

Thank you

Hi,

It was probably a good move to file for your widow's benefits at age 60, assuming that your own benefit rate would be higher than your widow's rate by the time you reach age 70. And, if your own benefit rate is higher than your widow's rate then it would probably be wise to wait until age 70 to switch to your own record. Thanks to delayed retirement credits (DRC), your own Social Security retirement rate will grow by 8% for every 12 months that you delay drawing your benefits between your full retirement age (FRA) and age 70.

As long as the ex-spouse from whom you're divorced is still living you couldn't file for benefits on his record without being required to file for your own benefits at the same time. And, once you start drawing your own benefits you can no longer accrue the DRCs that would otherwise increase your benefit rate. But, if your ex-spouse does die you could then apply for survivor benefits on his record. However, you'll only qualify for benefits from his account if the benefit rate on his record would be higher than the benefit rate you're already drawing.

Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/) is designed to analyze situations like yours in order to determine the best strategy for maximizing lifetime benefits. You may want to strongly consider using the software to determine your best filing strategy.

Best, Jerry