After filing benefits start at 70 this Aug, SSA agent called w/ retroactive offer going back year (started online app Jan so retro 6 months to July 2019, thou submitted app this May). I never heard such thing. Offer is lump sum 9 months retro 18K (wow). Catch is benefit, for life, as filed 7/19, 13 months earlier. Was pressured on call to decide then. I said had do math. Told had decide very soon. Agent called back less 24 hours later asking, "you decide yet?".

If my wife took spousal benefits at 62 is she eligible to take her benefits at 70 since she was born before 1954?

Hi,

My wife is 16 years 4 months older than I am. We are... just lost. I don't even know how to ask the right questions. She will be 67 this August, and I am 50 and still working. She is and has been a homemaker most of our 27 years of marriage.

Help?

Brian

Hi Brian,

Hi Jerry:
Thank you so much for answering my just recent question on WEP/GPO question (May 12 2020 - 2:51 pm for reference). I have only 9 U.S. credits and am collecting $460 Cnd. CPP. Will the Social Security Administration still make me apply for the benefits on my ex-spouse’s U.S. record through a Totalization application. Is this a mandatory procedure even though there is no question that benefits on my ex-spouse’s record will be higher? If so, does it take much longer?

Thank you for your kind assistance!

Hi,

Larry, here is my situation. I am divorced and 62 years of age. My former husband of 13 years passed Feb, 2020. My question as a divorced/widow can I claim his SS benefit now and defer my own claim until 70 years of age? My benefit would be higher than his and I am only asking for his benefit from 62-70 years of age. Does income play into the equation? Thanks, Kathleen

Hi Kathleen,

I have been divorced from a man I was married to for 18 years. He is 11 years older than me, so will most likely pass before I do. I am self employed, 61, and plan to work to age 70, when I will hopefully collect a larger SSA check. Am I able to collect his widow benefits once he passes and then switch to mine at age 70? He could already be gone, as we do not keep contact. How could I find out his status, if I am able to collect widow benefits? Thank you!

Hi,

My wife born in 1952 passed away in 2011. She was 9 years older than I. I will be turning 60 in Jan of 2021. My social security is less than hers. I am wondering if I can draw on mine at age 60 than switch and draw on hers after I turn 62.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

No, the earliest that you could collect your own Social Security retirement benefits is at age 62. The only way that you could draw benefits on your own record before then is if you're disabled and you qualify for Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits.

My husband has been deceased for twenty years now. I am still working. My monthly retirement is now higher than my monthly survivor benefit. I want to apply for my survivor benefits and let my own retirement benefit grow. Will I lose my own retirement benefit if I just apply for the survivor benefit alone? I am age 62 and never re-married.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

I currently earn 120k/year. I was born on Oct 11, 1954. I plan on retiring Nov 1, 2020 and I reach FRA Oct 11, 2020.
Can I apply for SS benefits without penalty in Oct 2020 with payments starting in Nov 2020 since I will still be employed during Oct? I could delay until Nov 2020 but would not receive a payment until Dec 2020.

Thank you

Hi,

I am 60 in Sept. husband 64 in May. If I lost him, now or when I am 62, he already gets SS since 62, should I try to keep working? Poor health, both of us. My SS would never be as much as his because I took 23 yrs off to raise his kids. If somehow I can keep working, should I? Can I get my benefits at 62 and his also? Thank you for your advice. Also, my mother divorced my dad when I was only 2. If he dies before her, can she get his benefits? They were only married a couple of years though. He tried to get out of paying child support for me too.