I am trying to figure out if there is a downside to my plan, and was hoping you could help.
I am 58 years old, widowed after 10+ years of marriage to someone who was collecting Social Security Disability at the time of their death in 2015 at the age of 53. My Social Security Benefit will be much larger when I claim it. I am currently working, and make over $50,000 per year.
I plan on filing for Survivor's Social Security benefits when I turn 60, and letting the Social Security Administration know my expected salary, so no benefits will be paid as long as my salary remains above the limit (taking into account the withholding of $1 of benefit for every $2 over the yearly limit set). If I continue to work, I will receive no Survivor's benefits. If something happens, and my salary drops, or I retire early (before my own Full retirement age of 67), I may possibly qualify for some survivor's benefits at that point.
My thought is by applying when I would be first eligible, all I would have to is inform the Social Security Administration of what my wages are to either have them paid, or withheld. I am wondering if there is a downside to applying when I turn 60, knowing that I would not receive any benefits. Does this 'stop the clock' on calculating the intervening COLAs that will be applied to what my spouse was receiving in 2015 before calculating my 71.5% payment? Does this create any issues for when I apply for my own benefits when I am 67 or 70? Does this impact my Medicare premiums when I turn 65? Any guidance on what I may be overlooking is appreciated.

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. Filing for reduced widow's benefits won't adversely affect your future Social Security retirement benefits or Medicare options, but claiming your widow's benefits too early could be disadvantageous. If you claim widow's benefits at age 60, your benefit rate will be calculated at 71.5% of your husband's primary insurance amount (PIA). The 28.5% reduction is prorated, so if you instead claimed widow's benefits at age 63 & 1/2 for example, your benefit rate would be calculated at 85.75% of your husband's PIA.

So, if you claim benefits at age 60 and your earnings prevent you from being paid any benefits until several years later, when you do start collecting you'll be paid at a lower monthly rate than if you had waited until later to apply. Ideally, it sounds like you'd want to wait to claim your widow's benefits until your earnings would allow you to actually be able to collect at least some benefits.

However, you would want to make sure that you apply for widow's benefits as soon as your earnings would permit at least some benefits to be paid, because you can't claim reduced benefits retroactively. And, you's want to collect as much as possible in total widow's benefits before eventually switching your own benefits. Your optimal filing strategy depends on factors such as your monthly widow's benefit rate, your expected annual earnings, and the Social Security earnings test exempt amount. 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