Hello Mr. Kotlikoff,

I am 55 years young, I have been married twice, my first husband passed away at the age of 43, we were married for twelve years, I remarried in 2003 and divorced my second husband in January 2013. I am uncertain if there is anything that I can do to claim their (husband 1 and/or husband 2) social security benefits? I am currently working and plan on working as long as I can as long as I am healthy. I am working on saving as much as I can in an IRA to assist me if and when I can retire. I just don't know how to BEST utilize social security benefits.

Kind Regards,
KB

Hi KB,

You would need to have been married for at least 10 full years to the day in order to ever potentially qualify for benefits on the record of your 2nd husband, which I assume from your description didn't happen in your case.

The earliest that you could claim widow's benefits on your first husband's record is age 60. However, your benefits would be subject to possible withholding based on the Social Security earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html) until you reach your full retirement age (FRA). Also, if you start drawing widow's benefits at age 60 they will be reduced by 28.5% from the rate you would otherwise get if you waited until FRA to claim them.

It sounds as though your best option would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits at age 60 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits at age 62 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced widow's benefits at your full retirement age (FRA).

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher record when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our maximization software could sort all of this out for you and help you determine your optimal strategy.

Best, Jerry